A Puzzle of a Different Kind

( I wrote this a long time ago, but wanted to bring it over to this blog too )

A wise man loves to piece together puzzles.  Thousands upon thousands has he finished.  Some of them being of the universe, some of the earth and its continents, some of the ocean, some of the foul of the air, and some of the creeping creatures of the earth.  He takes great pride in his puzzles.  You may ask why, because it is only a puzzle.  But you have yet to learn the whole story.  When I began this story I said he pieced them together, in saying that I mistated what I meant.  When he begins he looks at his puzzle board and pictures what his next puzzle will look like.  Once he has a vivid image in his mind he reaches over and picks up a small piece of clay.  With this clay he constructs a puzzle piece.  He then lays it upon the board.  The next piece he creates must match perfectly to the last.  He does not have a mold, but rather it is all in the power of his hands and imagination that this takes place.  I believe it must be amazing to watch.  As he looks over the pieces he can see the picture he had painted within his mind seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months, or years before.  Each piece is given special care, he is a patient man.  Never rushing to finish he takes his time.  He knows that in the end all of the pieces together will create a wonderful masterpiece.  His home is full of these puzzles.  But many years ago, he took on another project.  A special one.  He decided to create a huge puzzle of many smaller puzzles fitting together within it.  One by one he has created the smaller puzzles and one by one when finished they turn into a single piece.  Those pieces fit together perfectly to make the huge puzzle.  Some of them are corner pieces, some are border pieces, and some set in the middle.  He has to make each smaller puzzle piece by piece so that it perfectly fits together and also so that it perfectly fits into the larger puzzle.  He had to make a plan.  If it was to work he knew that he must plan where each smaller piece would fit.  He knew that each piece could only serve in that one place, and that all of the pieces must be different.  He knew that the purpose the one smaller puzzle would serve would be different from what every other puzzle served.  It would be special.  It's curves and contours would be specific to only it, and it's beauty would only represent it.  Yet he knew that all of the pieces must serve an equal purpose so that none would rise above the others.  A smooth surface is needed to make a wonderful masterpiece.  The man has molded each piece as he wants them to be, and as they shift in thier places he removes them and reshapes them.  He shows them how he wishes for them to be.  His masterpiece is the living body of Christ, and HE put you in it for a reason.  HE made you special with your talents and gifts.  HE has created you so that only you can serve the purpose HE has for you.  We are all part of the masterpiece that the living God is creating.