EXODUS 39

If you have never seen Milos Forman’s Oscar-winning 1984 film, Amadeus, you really must. It is arguably one of the best films of all time. It is also (though I don’t know if the writer or director intended this) one of the best examples of the insanity and self-destructiveness of sin. If you have seen it, you will surely remember the scene where Mozart’s wife brings a portfolio of her husband’s music to Antonio Salieri for review.

Salieri: Are you sure you can’t leave these and come back again?

Contstanze Mozart: It’s very tempting sir, but it’s impossible, I’m afraid. Wolfgang would be frantic if he found those were missing. You see, they’re all originals.

Salieri: Originals?

Contstanze Mozart: Yes, sir, he doesn’t make copies.

Salieri: These, are originals? (Contstanze Mozart nods.)

Salieri (narrating): These were originals. First, and only, drafts of music, but they showed no corrections of any kind. Not one. He had simply written down music already finished in his head. Page after page of it... as if he were just taking dictation! And music, finished as no music is ever finished. Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phrase and the structure would fall.

God doesn’t make copies either. He is an "originals" kinda guy. In Exodus 39, it says that the breastpiece for the clothing of the high priest was studded with four rows of precious gems: "In the first row there was a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree settings. There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes." (vs 10-14)

The high priest would wear the stones over his heart in order to signify that the Lord kept His people close to His heart at all times. And what did you notice about the stones that represented the twelve tribes of Israel? They were all different! There weren’t twelve rubies or twelve diamonds or twelve emeralds. Every stone was different. Every stone was unique. Every stone was an original.

This is precisely how God sees us. You are infinitely precious to Him, because God doesn’t make copies. You are a one-of-a-kind original, and God loves you just as you are! He can’t replace you with anyone else, and that’s why He’ll not leave any stone unturned in His quest to have a relationship with you. He can’t fill your place in His heart with anyone else.

God doesn’t make copies. He loves each of us as if we were the only one to love!