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Consider This: Before They Are Gone

 
 

Quick, name the most famous painting in the world.
 
If you said “The Mona Lisa,” you agree with everyone who was at church this past Sunday, the art insurers who declared it the most famous and valuable painting of all time, as well as the Guinness Book of World Records.
 
But it was not always that way.
 
Painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1506, the Mona Lisa has been on display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797. While the art world always appreciated the painting, one act gave it the iconic status and worldwide fame that it enjoys today. In 1911, it was stolen.
 
The theft generated unprecedented publicity as every newspaper in the world carried stories about the painting, possible suspects, offers of rewards, speculation regarding who took it and where it was hidden. 
The painting was recovered in 1914 after it was discovered that a man named Vincenzo Peruggia had taken it believing that the Italian masterpiece belonged in Italy.
 
However, the recovery of the painting did not stop the public’s fascination with it. In 1915, an opera was composed about it. Reproductions sprang up for sale in markets all around the world. The theft was the subject of two motion pictures, and the legendary Nat King Cole even recorded a song about the painting in the 1950s. As I said, the painting has always been appreciated, but it did not become famous until it was lost.
 
As the old saying goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone”. I think that is one of the most tragic truths in life. If you are not careful, you will miss all the good things. You will not see or value them until it is too late. That really scares me, because so many of our blessings have time limits on them. You must enjoy them while they are there.
 
In almost every prayer I pray, publicly or privately, I ask God to “Give us open eyes to see our blessings every day”. This is not just a ritual. It is a real concern.
 
Each day contains something for which to be thankful.
 
Are you making a point of seeing your blessings?
 
“This is the day which the Lord has made; Let’s rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

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