Worthy of the Lord

I have the most amazing jewelry box. An inmate in Michigan made it for me over many months. He fashioned it out of non-contraband materials he had saved up a long time from hither and yon. Everyone I show it to gasps at its craftsmanship. It is rather large, as jewelry boxes go, approximately the size of the desktop printer I am presently sitting near. Its several drawers are so perfectly made that they slide like butter, and it's a joy just to open and close them.

Before the jewelry box, David made me a beautiful bracelet. It was a intricate pattern of mother of pearl, garnet, and crystals, thoughtfully arranged for symbolic value, suggesting the Trinity, God as light of the world, and the virtues of consistency and purity. There were patterns inside the patterns. These were in a sequence of sevens to indicate completeness or fullness. But one day that bracelet got snagged on a beach towel I was throwing out a second-story window to my son, and its elements scattered to the four winds.

Then he made me a floral arrangement (base and all) like none you have ever seen, at any price. I could never adequately describe its fabrication (he sent me three pages, single spaced, detailing its construction), but the flowers and leaves were made from the blank sheets found at either end of a book of carbon paper for typewriters. These were dyed with various mixes of acrylic paints. The center of each rose was a cotton swab, to which the petals were affixed with homemade glue. The swabs were glued onto the end of juice straws that were wrapped in green papers. Reeds found in the prison yard became twigs, etc.

In remembering these cherished gifts and the love that went into creating them, I suddenly understood two verses in the Bible that had not made sense to me before:

"… walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him …" (Colossians 1:10).

" … let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ …" (Philippians 1:27).

Since even great John the Baptist was not worthy to untie Jesus' sandal (John 1:27), and since you and I were saved while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), then how, I wondered, could we ever "walk in a manner worthy of the gospel"?

Now I understood: To walk "worthy" of the gospel does not mean deserving the gospel. To live "worthy" of Christ is not a question of deserving Him or His salvation. Rather, it means that what I have been given is so precious- and so costly in love and labor-that I must be extremely careful with what I have received. I must be a recipient who cherishes with her life that which she was entrusted with.