file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940103.TXT ------------------------------------------------------- OUR DAILY BREAD Monday, January 3, 1993 ---------------- READ: 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 HANDCRAFTED BY GOD Our light affliction ... is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. --2 Corinthians 4:17 The Steinway piano is preferred by keyboard masters such as Rachmaninoff, Horowitz, Cliburn, and Liszt -- and for good reason. It is a skillfully crafted instrument that produces phenomenal sound. Steinway pianos are built today the same way they were 140 years ago when Henry Steinway started his business. Two hundred craftsmen and 12,000 parts are required to produce one of these magnificent instruments. Most crucial is the rim-bending process, where 18 layers of maple are bent around an iron press to create the shape of a Steinway grand. Five coats of lacquer are applied and hand-rubbed to give the piano its out glow. The instrument then goes to the Pounder Room, where each key is tested 10,000 times to ensure quality and durability. Followers of Jesus Christ are also being "handcrafted." We are pressed and formed and shaped to make us more like Him. We are polished, sometimes in the rubbing of affliction, until we "glow". We are tested in the laboratory of everyday human experience. The process is not always pleasant, but we can persevere with hope, knowing that our lives will increasingly reflect the beauty of holiness to the eternal praise of God. Author: David C. Egner THINK ABOUT IT Is God bending, shaping, or polishing me right now? What's my attitude: Am I thanking and praising God, or am I complaining about the process? THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: --------------------- Trials are intended not to provoke us but to prove us. THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 6-9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of Radio Bible Class, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49555, USA. Written permission must be obtained from RBC for any further posting or distribution. RBC provides a variety of Bible resources, which are free of charge. RBC is not funded by any group or denomination, and support come voluntarily from its Members and friends. Write for more information, or call 1-800-598-7221 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------