The Missing Pawn

I recently bought a second-hand chess set. It is made of glass, and though its condition is imperfect, it only cost a fiver plus postage. Unfortunately, it was missing a pawn. Now any chess player knows the pawn is the least powerful, weakest piece, yet no player would wish to be without one at a game’s start. Aesthetically, an absent piece is most displeasing, spoiling the symmetry and balance of the board. Consequently, I had to source a spare from the internet. I found one that matched, but the bill came to £4 including postage. The rest of the pieces barely cost more, yet it was well worth it. A chess board missing one pawn is simply not a chess board.

I wonder at the Good Shepherd’s seeking and saving lost sheep. Heaven was still as splendid without us and our company hardly makes its intellectual standards more sophisticated or marvellous. Yet the Saviour would sooner bleed on a cross than inhabit a heaven without us. Though we be insignificant and broken pieces, He spent much more redeeming us that creating angels and galaxies.

As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.