But an artisan with skill in his hands and love of the beautiful in his heart gathered up those pieces. Patiently he fitted them together until the base was so nicely restored that today it is hard to tell that it was once considered ruined.

It still stands in the British Museum, not only a monument to beauty but a memorial to patient love that re-created it when it was broken.

When Adam and Eve came from the hands of their Creator they were the supreme demonstration of His creative power. They were beautiful in body and spirit, made in God's image. But then came the shattering contact with sin, and soon that most wonderful creation of God's hands was ruined.

Then it was that the Great Artisan came forward with His plan for restoration of His beautiful creation. Christ came to this earth to give His life that the lives of Adam and Eve and their descendants could be restored to their original beauty. Today He will take the shattered bits of our life if we will put them into His hands, and by His great love and sacrifice will eventually restore us to the sonship with God that we were originally supposed to have. We have only to accept the sacrifice.

The psalmist complained that he was like "a broken vessel." He felt that he had been completely shattered by sin. There was nothing left of the beauty God had ordained that he should possess. "But," continues the psalmist, "I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God." Because he trusted God he put the unlovely pieces of his life into the hands of God. That God wrought this miracle of restoration in David's life is evident in the fact that David was often spoken of with approval. His sins, though many and terrible, had been forgiven. He had been saved from destruction, because he trusted in God.

When you feel that sin has shattered you, do not despair. Give the pieces to God, and trust Him. He can restore your life to the wholeness it should have.