Silver Trays

If I was allowed one frivolous wish, I know exactly what it would be.

I would spend a day in an old house.

I would peruse the library shelves and linger over the many books.
I would gaze at the artwork, to see if I recognized some of the artists.
I would enjoy the photographs in old frames and imagine the story behind each one.
I would meander to the dining room and look at the china, glassware, and beautiful vases.
I would search for old quilts, wondering who made them; what material scraps were used.
I would admire the old furniture and study the wooden pieces.
I would think of which one I could ask my husband to make for me.
He…the engineer by trade; the woodworker by design.

Then I would remember the promise given to me before I entered the house.

You can choose one thing, from all of these treasures, to take home with you.

For me, it is not so much the acquisition of the prized item, but the search.
A day in the attic among the treasures.
I could pick one thing.

I tried to handle so many things when my mother had died.
Things a fifteen year old could handle.
Things I had no idea how to manage.

One job I thought I could do, was to go through closets and sort out which things to give away and which things to keep.

There was a small cabinet in the kitchen that had ordinary things inside: plastic containers, lids, odds and ends that did not have a drawer of their own.

I always remembered seeing something in a bag tucked back in the corner.
It never occurred to me to look at it before.

I opened it to find large plates of some sort.
They were not pretty to look at.
I could not imagine why my mother had them tucked in the back of this cabinet.
Definitely a “give away”.

Days later, as I was talking to my aunt, I listed all of the things I had given away.
I was very proud of myself, handling the job alone.

I found old plates in the kitchen cabinet. They were wrapped in a bag...

What did they look like?

They were gray, dirty looking, had a design on it…

Oh, no…what did you do with them? You didn’t give them away, did you?
They were your mother’s silver trays…a present…from…

Couldn’t be!
Silver trays in a kitchen cabinet, wrapped in a bag, tucked in a corner.
I never saw them before…she never used them.

They were gone.
I should have asked for help…but I tried so hard to handle it alone.

There were no hard feelings, in fact, it became one of the family stories.
Remember when the silver trays were given away…?

Maybe that is why my frivolous wish of choosing one thing from an old house, is something I would love to do.
At least now, I would know what a silver tray looks like when it desperately needs to be polished.

So often, things are not what they seem.
Our expectations will often be the reason we miss the very thing we are looking for.

It was the same with Jesus.

The Messiah was promised, but everyone had such a different idea of what He would look like…even though God’s Word told them all they needed to know.

Many people expected a military Messiah who would save them from the Romans.
Many expected a Messiah coming in power who would establish His Kingdom right away.

No one expected a Messiah who would be born as a baby, in a cattle trough, with rags for clothes and parents who were so very poor that only a pair of doves or two young pigeons could be offered as sacrifice when the baby was consecrated to the Lord.

Messiah would never suffer…yet that is what He came to do.
Messiah would never serve…yet He said that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)
Messiah would never surrender, but He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

They missed Him.
He was not what they expected.
He was wrapped in a different package than they would have chosen.
He was tucked away with no place to lay His head.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. (Isaiah 53: 2b, 3)

Jesus will bring His treasure Home.
God the Father promised.
He will not bring just one piece, but many pieces.
All that the Father has enabled.
For Him, it is not the search, but the acquisition of His treasure.
Jesus’ treasure is tarnished…but it cleans up well.
The stains removed.
Washed in His Blood.

 

 

2 responses to “Silver Trays”

1. What a wonderful Holy week devotion! Thanks Gina!

   Reply

   • Thank you for being so encouraging, Janna.
     He gets all the praise.

     Reply