One of the most famous Norwegian painters was a man named Edvard Munch. Edvard was born in 1863, on a small farm, in the country of Norway. He endured a tormented childhood that was filled with countless illnesses and intense loss which resulted in severe mental illnesses that plagued him for the rest of his life. Edvard grew up with a love for art and eventually entered an art and design school. His father disapproved. He felt that art was a pointless profession that only led to poverty. But his talents began to flourish in school. By the time of his death, he would paint over 1700 pictures, 4500 drawings, and nearly 20000 prints. He was also a very talented photographer. Ironically many of his photos were old school selfies of himself (he was way ahead of our current trend). His most famous piece of artwork is called "The Scream." He was inspired while walking one night by a red-tinted sky. He felt that the sky was screaming, thus why he named it "the Scream of Nature." This painting originally sold for nearly $120,00 and then the year 2012 the painting sold for almost 136 million. The painting was displayed in the National Gallery in Oslo. On February 12th, 1994 two burglars broke into the Gallery. It only took 50 seconds for them to successfully steal the painting. They even left a note that said "Thanks for the poor security." An investigation started and ended with LOTS of dead ends. Finally on this day, May 7th, 1994, the painting was recovered in a hotel 40 miles from Oslo.
The museum had woefully poor security, especially for such a priceless piece of work. If something is valuable, we secure it. The higher the value, the higher security. The thing of highest value to God is us, our souls. It was of such high value that He sent His only begotten Son to depart from heaven to die for our sins. Once we believe in Jesus we are saved, but how secure is our salvation? Is salvation something that can be stolen? The answer the scripture gives is no. Jesus said in John 10:27-28 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." Jesus tells His sheep that they will be held in the most secure place in the entire world, the palm of His hand. He is holding onto us, holding our salvation. To imply that someone could steal our salvation means someone or something is more powerful than God, and nothing is more powerful than God. Today rest in the peace that God holds us tightly and lovingly in His arms. No thief or burglar can break can get through God's security system.
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