Hide it under a bushel? No!

Rob Cutshaw owned a little roadside shop outside Andrews, North Carolina. He was a rock gatherer, though he knew little about rocks. He knew enough to pick up ones that he could sell, and he allowed the collectors to appraise the rocks and decide their value. He would sell enough rocks and do enough wood cutting to make ends meet.

While digging several years ago, Rob found a rock he described as "purdy and big." It was a blue rock, certainly different enough and attractive enough to sell. But he had no success at selling it right away. He thought, with the right buyer, he might get as much as 500 dollars. He was willing to sell it for less if it meant paying the bills in a pinch. But instead, he just hid it for a while in the closet and sometimes under his bed.

In the end, Mr. Cutshaw almost made a huge mistake. What he might have sold for a few hundred dollars was discovered to be the most valuable sapphire ever found. The blue rock that Rob had abandoned to the darkness of a closet for two decades -- now known as "The Star of David" sapphire -- weighs nearly a pound, and could easily sell for close to 3 million dollars!

Unfortunately, it often happens that the greatest discoveries in life are not given a chance to shine and show their true value...

1. Have you undervalued your talents, your knowledge of the gospel, or your relationship with God?

2. Have you allowed anything of potentially great value slip through your fingers without further investigation of its true worth?

3. Have you given up on something that you first recognized as beautiful, and allowed your greatest and most valuable possession to remain hidden, unseen, and unused?

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ - "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:14-16)

We have the true "Star of David." Everybody should hear Him. Everybody should see Him. Everybody should know Him.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7