A couple of Saturdays ago, we traveled to Danville, to an art festival.  The ‘we’ consisted of the four of us, two sisters & two brother-in-laws.  After a forty-minute drive, we parked on a nearby street and walked to enjoy the various art pieces created by local artists.  String art, pottery, woodwork, crocheted items, ironwork, musical art, and even tin-art filled Constitution Square.  As we moved from booth to booth, each one stopped to touch, to talk, and to enjoy the various talents of others.  After an hour of perusing the square, moving row-by-row, we came to a table with a simple five-piece puzzle.  The directions were simple:  Take all five pieces and place them together to make a five-inch square.  Simple.  Direct.  Easy, I thought, for my husband (the puzzle-captain) and my sister (his trusty companion).  I, on the other hand, knew to keep my hands off the coveted five puzzle pieces because I understand my penchant (my weakness) for puzzles.  Clearly, I do not like them & truly, I do not think puzzles like me because I ALWAYS end up with more pieces than needed—OR—I give up and walk away from this ‘puzzling’ challenge.

Therefore, I stood to my husband’s left, observing the process, while my sister worked at my husband’s right, and she was not observing but touching, moving, and putting together this five-piece puzzle.

That’s what they ‘hoped’ to do, but this puzzle became quite the challenge for my two puzzle champions.  Picture the image in your mind:  a white canopy, covering three older men sitting in their lawn chairs (the owners), a white fold-out table, various art pieces, puzzles to purchase, & this 5-piece puzzle resting there with a pointed challenge—

USE ALL FIVE PIECES TO CREATE A FIVE-INCH SQUARE.

• The directions were clear, direct, and approachable.
• The challenge was issued and accepted.

The participants began their work, moving, switching, thinking, and then re-positioning the puzzle pieces.

At first, I thought the challenge would not be challenging, but easy, because before long, a square appeared.  However, to their dismay, and to my astonishment, a four-inch square was formed with one tiny one-inch square remaining—outside the fashioned square.

They had failed.

Their square did not contain all the necessary pieces to be complete, and they could not walk away; they could not leave the task unfinished, un-done—incomplete.

• We can make a mess of our lives.
• We can make a mess of the grace God gives to us.

When we accept the truth of Jesus, the Son of God; when we believe in faith what Jesus did for us upon the cross and within the grave; and when we confess our sins, asking Jesus to save us—

GOD’S AMAZING GRACE COVERS THE MULTITUDE OF OUR SINS!

We become changed because of God’s Grace.

We begin to walk throughout our days—changed & shaped by this beautiful, costly GRACE.

Others begin to notice how we are different, set apart, sanctified, and even a bit odd because of God’s Grace.

No longer are we ‘puzzled’ by the meaning of life because for the first time, ever, ALL OF THE PIECES BEGIN TO FALL IN PLACE, TO BEGIN TO ‘FIT’ TOGETHER TO MAKE THE WHOLE!

As a child of God, we become part of the body of Christ and the family of God.  We realize how we are not who we once were—people walking through life afraid to die—living only for today, reaching for all this earth has to offer, striving toward unimaginable pleasures, hoping to make the most of our earthly lives.

Instead, we become a new creature, a new person—one changed by the GRACE of GOD—not living for this life but for the future life-eternal, not afraid to die because we know the TRUTH.  One day soon, we will fly away to glory where we will live forever with Jesus Christ, our Savior, Messiah, Redeemer & Lord.

Grace calls us by name, saying, “_______, change” and then the Holy Spirit’s power placed inside us by God Himself, makes this transforming change possible.”

A Life Transformed!

That particular summer day, as I stood watching my loved ones attempt to fashion the puzzle pieces, succeeding to make a square, but failing, nonetheless, because there remained one piece that was left out of what they thought was the finished puzzle.  “Can we just throw away this piece?” I heard my sister ask the owner of the white tent.  “No,” he replied, “all five pieces must fit together to create the finished product.  As I stood there looking at that tiny little square that remained left out, creating an ‘unfinished creation,’ I found myself meditating on God & on my Faith.

Is this not the same with mankind?

• Without the presence of God living within us, we remain unfinished, undone.
• Without Jesus within us, without HIM, the fullness of us remains incomplete.
• Without a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Savior, we cannot come to know God.
• Without Jesus Christ alive within us, we are doomed to die—BUT
• With Jesus living within us, our souls are transformed, our lives are transformed—AND
• We receive God’s Amazing Grace, giving us life eternal with GOD.

So, today, may we each ask ourselves:

• Is there something that you and I would not give up if God asked us to?
• Is there any one thing that we hold tightly to and exclaim, “Take anything else, Lord, but don’t take this one thing.”?

Who do we live for?

The ONLY acceptable answer—“I live for You, Lord, because You have created me from the very beginning to have a relationship with You.”

• Grace comes after us.
• Grace covers the multitude of our sins.
• Grace places all the pieces of us—together—making us complete—in HIM—in JESUS CHRIST!

Because of God’s Amazing Grace, we are now A Life Transformed!