Centuries ago, a group of workmen were seen struggling to drag a massive marble block into Florence, Italy.
It had been quarried from Carrara鈥檚 famous marble beds and was initially meant to become a statue of an Old Testament prophet. But something wasn鈥檛 right. The stone had flaws and imperfections that made it unworthy in the eyes of the sculptor, Donatello, who dismissed it outright.
The cold slab sat in the cathedral yard, abandoned, rejected, seemingly without purpose. That is until another artist, Michelangelo, saw it - he examined the flawed block and envisioned something magnificent - where others saw failure, he saw potential.
He poured himself into the task for two years, chiselling, shaping, and revealing what he saw beneath the surface. Finally, on Jan. 25, 1504, Florence鈥檚 greatest artists, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Pietro Perugino, gathered to witness the unveiling.
The veil dropped, and the city beheld what had once been despised and discarded: a masterpiece. Michelangelo鈥檚 David is one of the greatest works of art the world has ever known. It鈥檚 a powerful reminder that the greatest artists see beyond imperfections.
Where we see flaws, they see form. Where we see a lost cause, they see something worth redeeming.
This is the same way Christ sees us. Take Levi, the tax collector, more than just a sinner, he was a traitor. He had purchased the right to collect taxes for the Romans, profiting off his people through extortion.
To them, he was the embodiment of betrayal, despised and unwelcome. Yet when Jesus passed by, He saw not a lost cause but a disciple. With two words, 鈥淔ollow Me,鈥 He called Levi out of corruption and into a new identity. Levi became Matthew, the Gospel writer, a messenger of the very kingdom he once worked against. Scripture tells us, 鈥淔or we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works鈥 (Ephesians 2:10).
As we journey through Lent, I reflect on this process of shaping and chiselling. Like many, I am fasting from certain foods, practicing self-denial, and focusing on Easter.
Lent is not just about giving things up, it鈥檚 about being formed, refined, and made new. It is in these moments of surrender, when we allow God to chip away at the rough edges, that His masterpiece in us begins to emerge.
The work isn鈥檛 always easy, but the Artist鈥檚 hands are faithful. And in the end, what seems like sacrifice becomes transformation.
Phil Collins is lead pastor at Willow Park Church in 黑料社入口.
