Touch
of the
Master's
Hand

BANG! The gavel slams down. “Sold for one-hundred fifty dollars!” proclaims the auctioneer. The old farmer and his wife watch as the last vestige of their hopes and dreams are auctioned off to the thoughtless gathering in the old town church. Only a few trinkets left: a picture, some tattered furniture and an old violin. The homestead is gone. The town has died. Nothing but a miracle can save them now.

The restless crowd has acquired their lot and anxiously waits for the final gavel to close the day. Few are still bidding as the best has already been sold.

But a praying man sits on the corner of a broken pew at the back of the church and watches silently as the day draws to a close. He scans the room as the bidding drones on, praying for a miracle to bless the old farmer and his wife… a few dollars here and a few dollars there.

The old violin draws a dollar, then two. “Do I have three?” asks the auctioneer. “Going once; going twice; going and…” He hesitates.

The praying man approaches the platform and takes the violin from auctioneer’s hands. He dusts off the old violin and tunes it up. Stillness settles on the room as the crowd waits with anticipation... And the miracle happens!

As the old man draws the bow across the strings, pure, beautiful tones pour from that old violin. And the Master does His work. The audience is moved and their perspectives are forever changed.

And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. A mess of potage, a glass of wine; a game - and he travels on. He is going once, and going twice, he’s going and almost gone. But the master comes and the foolish crowd never can quite understand... the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought by the touch of the master’s hand.