The Touch of the Master's Hand

As a child growing up, my church would welcome travelling music groups from various Christian colleges.  I always enjoyed these times - mainly because my family would always host a couple of the students overnight.  For some reason, two particular songs sticks out in my mind. 

The first song is a parody of sorts - the funny song each group was required to sing.  This song was called I Hate Liver (I personally love me some liver and onions, but I know I am in the minority)- which was a funny song.  I remember this song because I was a senior in high school, and I would go on to attend the college that this particular group was representing.  I would hear this song several more times while acquiring my undergraduate degree.  "Oh I hate liver, liver makes me quiver, it makes me wanna shrivel up and die...."

The second song was when I was much younger.  If you know me, you probably realize that my memory isn't super sharp.  That this song has stuck with me for 25 years blows me away.  It's called The Touch Of The Masters Hand.  It was based on a poem by Myra Brooks Welch, which goes like this -

It was battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought
It hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three".

But, No,
From the room far back a grey haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet,
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,
All battered with bourbon and gin,
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.

He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Master's Hand.

2 Corinthians 5:17 shares with us - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  We are a new person.  One of the greatest testimonies a person can have is a life changed through the power of God alone.  We can claim no power over the new person we've become.  It is the touch of the Master's Hand that creates who we are - no longer a slave to the past, but alive and free to serve Him.  What a might God we serve!