Rev. Ray and Pat Amos

Ezra 9:8 KJV

DEVOTION FOR TODAY, August 21, 2019

“Grace has been shown from the Lord our God…to give us a nail in his holy place …”

There is a passing generation that many of us had the joy of knowing. They were the “do not throw anything away generation.” Some came through the depression and realized the need for saving things for future use. Most of us remember these wonderful people who understood the value of what (and who) they held each day. I watched my grandfather pull bent nails from boards, straighten them with a hammer, and save them in an old coffee can. If you asked him why go to all the trouble when you could buy new nails, his answer would be that these are still good and don’t need to be thrown away.

Ezra spoke of God’s people as “nails in His Holy place.” Imagine that each one of us is a nail. (What kind would you be?) Some are spikes for heavy work, while others are small finishing nails for more fragile task. Each one has a place of usefulness in the plan of God.

We all can rejoice that our God is not a “throw away God.” We too have been bent, and lost in the lumber of sin and worldly cares of life. It would be so much easier for the Lord to just replace us, but instead the Carpenter from Galilee came to save us. That also took a hammer and a cross. We have been pulled out of that old life, straightened and saved. No nail is too bent for Him to restore to usefulness in His Holy place.

Got any bent nails in your family or among your friends? Do you feel a little bent yourself? Others may cast bent and broken lives away, but grace has been shown from the Lord to make us a nail in His Holy place.

Let the nails sing:
“Redeeming love, a love that knows no limit
Redeeming love, a love that shall not die
My soul shall sing throughout the endless ages
With choirs extolling this great love on high”

Grace and Peace, Rev Ray

“Link to YouTube Video – Redeeming Love”