October 19, 1998

In March 1990 I attended North Florida Tres Dias. At the end of those three days I arose from death to life as I began to live the Life in Grace. Tom Grady of Grace Ministries Atlanta was my spiritual director on that Tres Dias and it was Tom who introduced me to the Jesus I never knew. Tom’s friendship through these following years has nurtured me as I seek to make the Life in Grace the Way of Life. The following illustration was used by Tom on my Tres Dias and opened the eyes of my understanding to God’s awesome grace. Enjoy.

THE DIAMOND

You are walking through the Mall and you see something bright and glimmering on the floor. You pick it up and see that it appears to be a gemstone. You are curious about the stone and take it to a near by jewelry store to have it appraised.

The proprietor examines the stone carefully and tells you it is a diamond of great worth, but to determine the exact worth he would have to weigh the stone. He brings out an old fashioned scale, one with two trays, suspended from a balance rod. When there is equal weight on each tray the rod balances perfectly. He places the diamond on the left tray and then adds weight to the other side until the scale is in balance.

We can think of the worth, or value, of an individual in a similar way. Say you wanted to find out the worth of a person. We put them on the left tray. Next, begin to place all their accomplishments on the right tray.

We put on the right tray the recommendations we received from their family and friends as well as their education and business success. We add their participation in the programs and ministries of the church. After we have placed on all we can think of on the right tray, we notice that the scale has not moved. The left tray with our friend is still all the way down, and all of their fame and accomplishments has failed to move them at all.

So we ask God for a little help. After all, He knows everything. He even knows the hairs on our head. So we ask God to help us find a way to balance the scale so we will know the worth or value of our friend.

God asks us to remove all the stuff we had placed in the right tray, and we do.
Then God places Jesus in the right tray. They balance. Perfectly.
Our friend is worth Jesus.
Our friend’s value, to God, is the same value that God places on Jesus.
This is true for our friend.
This is true for you.
This is true for me.

What awesome Grace.
 

Selah
\O/
Alex

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