No, I didn’t know what that proverb meant either the first time I heard it. I was working with an old handyman and we were repairing a wall which had been built with low quality materials. After an hour or so he looked at me and sighed, “That’s good enough. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” Not wanting to look stupid I knowingly nodded and waited until later when I could search the internet to find out the meaning of what he had said. I remember smiling when I read, “Be unable to turn something inferior into something of value…” That was exactly the case, because of the poor materials, we could have worked the rest of our lives and never been able to make the wall look like new. What we needed was a new wall made of quality materials.
We can feel that way about ourselves too. Can we really change? After so many mistakes, is it possible to alter our habits and lifestyle? Can we make a fresh start in life? Left to our own strategies, such a transformation is rare. But God is the Master at making silk purses from the sow’s ears of our lives. A fascinating example of this is a man named David. He lived over 3000 years ago but his life remains a powerful testimony of what God can do with a human life.
David is described as a man after God’s own heart and yet he was capable of horrific evil. How can that be? Only the hand of God working in his life can account for such radical change. David is one of the most inspiring, disappointing and challenging characters in the Bible. Regardless of where we are in life, what God did through him speaks to each one of us.
If you find yourself shocked, at times, by the evil you are capable of doing, join us for one of our worship services this weekend. God can do in you what he did in David. You can be a man or woman after God’s own heart.
Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am & 10:30 am.
