Welcome to another week of our Everyday Jesus link-up. Be sure to link-up below this post, comment on your neighbor’s blog and share with your friends… Because Jesus is everywhere, every day!
***
Ever have one of those every day moments when Jesus just swoops in and takes you totally by surprise?
Yep, happens to me. All the time.
A couple of months ago, I was on my way to a personal training session. My phone rang with an unknown number.
Long story short, a local social club had gotten wind that I was a certified auctioneer. And they wanted me to share my ability with them at their annual fundraiser.
I hung up the phone, flattered, excited and surprised. See, it’s not like I share this auctioneering thing with every Joe Schmoe on the street. Yes, my 5th year at college as a super senior, I spent my spring break in a hotel in Kansas City getting my certification. And yes, I briefly mentioned this unique ability in a recent keynote message for my local Protestant Women of the Chapel just to be funny.
But seriously, Lord? The timing just seemed to work out perfect. Just that week I was all bummed out that I wouldn’t be able to attend the PWOC retreat since I have a toddler and hubs was away at Ranger School. No one to watch my kid for two nights and three days.
Apparently Jesus had another idea.
Later that day, I went home and dug out my auctioneering material to start polishing up my chant and refreshing my memory.
To my knowledge, Missouri Auction School is a secular organization. But as I was flipping through my guidebook, I ran across this poem called “A Touch of the Master’s Hand” by Myra Welch. I had never read it before and it knocked my Jesus socks right off…
‘Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”
“A dollar, a dollar. Then two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?”
“Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice.
Going for three…” But no,
From the room, far back, a grey-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow.
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loosened strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: “What am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow.
“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?
Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
And going and gone,” said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
“We do not quite understand.
What changed its worth?” Swift came the reply:
“The touch of the Master’s hand.”
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd
Much like the old violin.
A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,
A game — and he travels on.
He is “going” once, and “going” twice,
He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.
As I finished reading the text, my non-crier-of-a-self realized my face was wet with tears. Here I was, sad to be missing what was going to be a powerful Jesus weekend in a cabin with 35 of my PWOC sisters, yet God took something secular and made it sacred.
It wasn’t just about auctioneering anymore. It was about sharing His light everywhere I go– be it on a retreat or calling an auction at a fundraiser.
Everything can be sacred with the Touch of the Master’s Hand.
Friend, where is the Master touching your life now? How are you responding? Chime in a leave a comment.
The entire experience, from auction prep to the night of the event was no longer just something for me to “do.” Instead, it was an opportunity to be like Jesus in my every day. His love is worth more than any high-dollar auction in the world.
And it is simply the touch of the Master’s Hand that makes all the difference.
Calling Bids for the Lord,
“You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” ~1 Corinthians 6:20
Loading InLinkz ...
