Craig Smith

Psalm 25:4



Search with holy eyes

This vessel in Your hands

Sift and purify

By the standards You demand

Sculptor of my heart

Cast and forge my mind

With a quest for purity

And as the poet weaves his line

Compose You melody



Chorus

Please make of me

Your Kingdom's art

May You be pleased

Sculptor of my heart



You have fashioned perfectly

Your image in the Son

Shape and pattern within me

To be the paragon

Sculptor of my heart

Hew away those places

Which cause blemish to the whole

As the only skillful Master

Engrave Your name upon my soul



Chorus



You create from a heart of stone

A vessel of honor that You call

Your own, Your own



Chorus



The desire of the Father is that we be conformed to the image of His Son.

May we have the boldness and wisdom to come before the Lord and prayfully

request He mold uss into that which is pleasing and productive to His

Kingdom, at whatever the cost to us personally.



There are at least two qualities found in a master-craftsman in relation to

his work. One is the constant striving for perfection in his art. Patiently

exerting all his abilities to create a beautiful, expressive, and seemingly

flawless place. Secondly, being able to apply his entire imagination to

visualizing the completed art form, even prior to picking up his first

sculpting tool.



After mentally fixing what the completed form will look like, he then begins

to hammer and chisel away those unsightly chunks and pieces which would

distort the final image. He will labor diligently until that which was once

only a mental image cast upon formless material, has been transformed into

a timeless work of art.



Through the laborious and skillful process of the artist, material which

once had little worth is converted into an object of great value.



In similar manner, we come to Christ as objects of little value, and

certainly no value when considered in relation to the Kingdom of God. As we

are convicted of our sin, ask forgiveness and repent of our sin, He becomes

our Saviour and His Lordship then moves into every aspect of our life. As

we stand before Him, in His grace, as mere babes in Christ, He not only sees

our present immature state, but He also supernaturally sees the finished

products.



Because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, we have moved from a

position of worthlessness to God, to a secured position of great potential

and eternal value to God. He takes "...from a heart of stone," and through

the work of the Holy Spirit makes "a vessel of honor."



The gift of salvation is made available to each of us only to the extent

that we each are willing to respond in obedience to His invitation. Upon

accepting His terms to that free gift, we then become a child of the King.

This is the foundation we are established on, and can reason from God's

Word, that we should continue to build on. It is the process of tearing down

the fleshly man, and building up the spiritual man "...put on the new self

(man) who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the

One who created him." (Col. 3:10) The Lord did not intend for us to remain as

"babes," in fact we are instructed to "long for the pure milk of the Word,

that by it (we) may grow in respect to salvation." (I Peter 2:2) "...grow

(increase) in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

(II Peter 3:18) It should be our desire, goal, and prayer that the Father

would remove, hammer and chisel, away any material which does not conform

to the image of His Son.



He reveals those thing in our live which are unpleasing in His sight, and we

respond in obedience so they do not hinder the final result.



We submit to Him because He has loved us enough to give us life through His

Son. We were created to bring glory to God, to be pleasing in His sight.

That is our destiny. We are the clay in the potter's hand. We are material

being constructed into living objects which are pleasing and bring

satisfaction to the Father. God is not just wise, He is the source of true

"Wisdom." As vessels, then, let us not worry but have complete trust in Him

and His wisdom that He will chip away only those unnecessary and unsightly

pieces.



As we are in submission and obedience to Him, the end result will be a living

work of art, worthy of the King's chambers.--Craig Smith









We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer

Craig Smith



We praise Thee, O God our Redeemer, Creator

In grateful devotion our tribute we bring

We lay it before Thee

We kneel and adore Thee

We bless Thy Holy Name, glad praises we sing