Perceptions #200221

"The Jigsaw Body"

by Dr. Eddie Randolph

When our family makes the annual Christmas holiday trek to my in-laws, a standard part of that visit will be piecing together one or more jigsaw puzzles. Because of the season, a holiday motif for the puzzle is expected with a high percentage of red pieces…it is amazing how many shades of red there are.

Have you ever finished a jigsaw puzzle and realized a piece was missing? With one thousand pieces on the table, it is easy for one to slip away unnoticed. After all, what does one piece matter when you have 999 more that have been fit together? The picture would still be 99.9% complete.

Try framing a puzzle that is 99.9% complete. The first thing you noticed would be the missing piece. It doesn't matter if that piece is part of the sky or part of the "main picture;" its absence is just as noticeable.

Paul uses a "jigsaw puzzle" image when writing to the Corinthian church. He speaks of the church as Jesus Christ as a "body." The church is a people who share a common experience-"we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member but many" (1 Cor. 12:13-14).

God himself pieces that many-membered body together. "God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired" (vs. 18, cf. vs.24). This work of God brings with it the necessity that the pieces of the puzzle work together for the benefit of the entire body.

One piece of the puzzle does not the entire puzzle make. One part of the body does not make up the entire body. The beauty of a puzzle is in the diversity of its pieces. The strength of a body is in the diversity of its parts. But when a piece is missing or a body part is not functioning in good health, it is easily noticed.

How are you fitting into the role that God has created for you?

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