Let's Not Ignore The Great Virtuoso!

A few years ago, I read an interesting Washington Post news story about a young man who positioned himself against a wall beside a trash can at the L’Enfant Plaza station in Washington, DC, pulled out his expensive violin, and began to play. In the next 43 minutes, as he performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by, ignoring him.

The man playing the violin was Joshua Bell, one of the finest classical violinists in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on a $3.5 million Stradivarius. But no crowd gathered for the virtuoso. Bell told a reporter, “It was a strange feeling that people were actually ignoring me.”

As the Great Virtuoso of creation (Genesis 1:1; Acts 14:14-15; cf. Psalm 33:6; Psalm 146:5-6; Revelation 14:7), God also knows what it feels like to be ignored (Jeremiah 9:1-6; Jeremiah 13:8-11). The apostle Paul said that God has planted evidence of His existence in the very nature of man (Romans 1:19; cf. Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5). And creation delivers an unmistakable message about God’s creativity, power, and character (Psalm 19:1-6).

Although God has revealed His majesty, many refuse to acknowledge and obey Him. However, God will hold everyone responsible for ignoring who He is and what He has revealed (Acts 17:24-31).

The inspired writer Paul tells us: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful ….” (Romans 1:20-21).

Let’s not ignore the Great Virtuoso, but let us gratefully acknowledge and thank Him who has wonderfully revealed Himself to us, not only through His creation (Romans 1:20), but through His Word as well (Romans 1:16-18; Romans 16:25-26; Galations 1:11-12; Ephesians 3:1-6).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets