The Master Cellist's Borrowed Stradivarius

In 2012, cellist Alisa Weilerstein received a loan that changed her performing life — a 1731 Stradivarius cello known as the "Isserlis" Stradivarius, valued at several million dollars. She did not own it. A generous benefactor entrusted it to her care, believing she would honor the instrument with her artistry.

Weilerstein has spoken about how carrying that cello reshapes everything. She does not leave it in a hot car. She does not rest drinks on its case. She does not lend it to someone learning their first scales. Every decision — how she travels, where she stores it overnight, even the humidity of the rooms she enters — reflects one simple reality: this instrument is not hers. It belongs to someone else, and it was given to her for a purpose far greater than her own convenience.

Paul tells the Corinthian believers something remarkably similar. "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price." The price was not millions of dollars. It was the blood of Christ.

We live in a culture that insists, "My body, my choice, my pleasure." But the gospel whispers a different truth. Like Weilerstein cradling that priceless Stradivarius, we carry something sacred — not because we earned it, but because the Almighty entrusted it to us. Therefore, Paul says, honor God with your bodies. Handle what He has given you with reverence, gratitude, and holy purpose.