One morning, I noticed a man with a chainsaw cutting down a large tree in front of some local farm buildings. He was still there in the afternoon, working on the tree stump with his power tool set at an unusual angle. Days later, I passed the place again and noticed the stump had been transformed into a replica of a corncob. The man hadn’t been merely toppling a tree; he had sculpted vertical rows of corn kernels framed by a husk—the agricultural icon of the Midwestern United States.

That sculpture reminds me that God can take a life that is the spiritual equivalent of a tree stump—unfruitful, unsightly, and unusable—and transform it into a work of art for His glory (Ephesians 2:10).

God used Moses to escort the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10-12), despite his severe moral misstep. Born into a Hebrew slave family, Moses grew up as Egyptian royalty. As an adult, he was out among his own people and witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Moses made sure no one was watching, and then he “killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand” (Exodus 2:12). The killing wasn’t an act of self-defense. It was unrestrained violence. It was impulsive sin.

Although most of us have never considered taking anyone’s life, we can relate to the familiar sequence of sinning—the sudden urge to violate God’s ethics, the act itself, and then the dismay and remorse that follow (James 1:14-15). Fortunately, God’s forgiveness and grace allow us to forget the past and look “forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and He can use us too. Let’s put on our “new nature,” “learn to know [Him],” and “become like Him” (Colossians 3:10).

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Mark 2:23–3:19