My daughter likes
to collect rocks. She will spend all day taking out her rock collection
and looking at each rock as if she had never seen it before. She
keeps them in a special box and locks them away in her cabinet
in her room. I have often wondered what fascinates her about rocks.
Rocks can be
all different colors, vivid in nature, shiny and smooth. They
can be dull and rough with cracked surfaces. They can have a sparkle
to them or their beauty can lie within, not openly visible from
the outside surface.
My Dad liked
ancient rocks, old rocks in the form of arrowheads or spearheads.
He would spend quite a lot of time digging in fields where an
Indian village or an old settlement was thought to have been many
years ago.
He even had a
special trowel and shovel to dig with. He would take great care
when he was digging, and when he found a particular specimen,
he would wash it and polish it and display it proudly with his
other artifacts. Often when he found find bits and pieces of the
past he would research the particular time period and learn more
of the people who made it, and discover it's use. This was treasure
to him.
It can be quite
an effort to collect rocks. You must dig or mine them, wash the
dirt and grime away, lovingly shine and polish them. Some adventurers
cut them into shapes, for jewelry, as the Indians did for their
necklaces. Some place them in a tumbler and smooth out the surface
of the rocks, or you can collect rocks the easy way by simply
picking up excellent samples of rocks in your local nature/science
store, located in many of our shopping malls.
What is it about
rocks that is so fascinating? Kids can't resist them, they take
every opportunity to throw them, or skip them across a body of
water, or putting gravels in their pockets to be used for fun
at a later date. Adults love to cut geodes into two pieces and
use them as paperweights for their desks. Even God spoke often
in His Word about rocks.
The Bible states
that Jesus is our rock. In Deuteronomy 32:4, He is the rock, His
works are perfect.
In Psalms 19:14
the Lord is my rock and my Redeemer.
Christ is described
in I Peter 2 as a living stone. As you come to him, the living
stone-rejected by men but chosen by God, and precious to Him-you
also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood.
To those of us
who believe, this stone is precious, but to those who do not believe
the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. They
stumble because they disobey the message-which is also what they
were destined for. (I Peter 2 7, 9)
In Matthew 3:8
the Bible states "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And
do not think you can say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our
Father. I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children
for Abraham."
I wondered what
the difference was in a rock and a stone so I looked it up in
Webster's Dictionary. A stone is defined in Webster's Dictionary
as a pebble, a gravel or rock. A rock is defined as a pebble,
boulder, stone, gravel, granite, roll, sway, swagger, or limestone.
How hard must
Christ mine us to become living stones? Does He have to dig deep
into the earth to find us and do we resist leaving that bed of
dirt to shine brilliantly as a well_loved rock? Do we lie near
the surface or even on top of the earth just waiting for Jesus
to command us, giving us a purpose for being?
Are we a foundation
stone, a cornerstone or are we a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall?" (II Peter 2:8)
I don't know
about you, but I have never thought of myself as a rock. Do you
think of yourself as a rock? I think of Jesus as a rock, my rock.
I think of rocks
as being ageless . . . strong and unmovable, a thing of beauty,
valuable and rich in minerals.
I think of rocks
as being useful, used as a building tool, for foundations, or
for walkways and stone walls. Am I a foundation? Or do I want
to be a capstone for the chimney? These questions have risen to
my mind lately.
I have asked
myself the question: who will do the work if none of us do it?
God says He can raise stones to do His work. Do I want another
stone to take my place in God's plans for this world?
Recently I received
a couple of donations to Sarah's Daughters that made me really
think about this subject of workers and stones . . . These donations
were quite generous and much needed, and many good works can be
done with them.
God won't need
to raise stones to replace these workers. They are doing the work
of God. His interests and concerns are first and foremost on their
minds.
Is God's will
first and foremost on our minds? It doesn't take donating a large
amount of money to do the work of God. It just takes caring and
loving . . . and sharing the bounty that Christ has given us.
Sharing it with others less fortunate.
We can receive
blessings, but unless we bless others with our abundance we aren't
doing the work of God. The greatest commandment is this:
Love our neighbor
as ourselves. It sounds easy . . . but it's not so easily accomplished.
All it takes
is seeing a need, and meeting it. That's what Christ wants. One
need at a time. One problem at a time, one day at a time and by
starting today.
I sure would
hate for God to raise up another stone to take my place and to
do my work. I want to be doing His will and radiating His love.
How about you?
