Here am I

Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

A young couple was visiting a renowned jewelry store in New York City. They browsed through cases of magnificent diamonds with their gleaming yellow light along with many other splendid precious stones. Among those beautiful stones, one in particular caught his wife's eye. It was completely lusterless and didn't seem to be in the right place. “That is one terrible looking stone, do you see that?", she said. The curious husband asked a clerk if they could see the stone. The clerk opened the case, took out the stone and held it in his hand for a few minutes. When he opened it, there was a perfectly flawless stone. There was not a place on it that didn't gleam with the splendor of the rainbow. "How did you do that?", they asked in surprise. "This is an opal", he replied. "It is what we call the sympathetic jewel. It only needs contact with the human hand to bring out its wonderful beauty."

Merely a touch brings out this stone's beauty. We live in a world where beauty is hidden under pain, sin and suffering. How many lives only need the warm touch of human sympathy, love and compassion, to make them gleam with a radiant splendor? Reach out and touch someone today for His glory! Share with them the love of God and not only will they receive a glimmer of joy, but you will gleam with His radiance too! When the Lord asked whom shall I send, Isaiah replied “here am I".

Let's each of us say today here am I and be used by the Lord to bring out the beauty of those around us!

Dear Lord, help us each be willing to say “here I am Lord” today. Help our love bring out the beauty of someone else. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

The Grip of a Human Hand

A customer visited a jewelry shop in the diamond district of New York City, intent on buying a special jewel. He was shown a series of dazzling diamonds, each more brilliant than the previous one. The man still wished to look further, so the jeweler brought out some other precious stones. In the midst of this grouping sat a lackluster stone which evoked no beauty at all. The customer commented, "That's a rather dull stone."



"Hold on a minute,” said the jeweler. He picked up the stone and closed his fist around it. In a few moments he opened up his hand. What a difference! The stone now glowed beautifully. The customer was astonished. "What did you do to it? How come it reacted that way?," he stammered. "This is an opal, and what we call a sympathetic jewel," the jeweler explained. "All it needs is the gripping of a human hand and its beauty comes forth."


Lets take the time today to touch somebody today.


24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.


- Hebrews 10:24-25 (New King James Version)






Dear Lord we pray that we would be the loving hand that somebody needs today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.