Antonio Stradivarius was an Italian violin maker who lived from 1644-1737. His violins are now the most prized violins ever made because of the rich and resonating sound they produce. The unique sound of a Stradivarius violin cannot be duplicated. Surprisingly, these precious instruments were not made from treasured pieces of wood, but instead they were carved from discarded lumber. Stradivarius, who was very poor and could not afford fine materials like his contemporaries, got most of his wood from the dirty harbors where he lived. He would take those waterlogged pieces of wood to his shop, clean them up, and from those pieces of trashed lumber, he would create instruments of rare beauty. It has since been discovered that while the wood floated in those dirty harbors, microbes went into the wood and ate out the center of those cells. This left just the fibrous infrastructure of the wood that created resonating chambers for the music. From wood that nobody wanted, Stradivarius produced violins that everybody wants. Just as this poor violin maker transformed trash into treasures, God can and wants to transform every one of us into the treasured image of his Son, Jesus Christ. He can rescue us from the sludge of our sin and transform us into instruments of beauty and grace.
From the book McHenry's Stories for the Soul, pg...291
