Lent Day 26–Precious Stone

My son is currently studying for the required GRE exams for graduate school.  I’ve been quizzing him on vocabulary and among the words he stumbled over at the beginning was lapidary.  I had no problem remembering lapidary relates to the art of cutting precious stones because growing up, our family would visit a lapidary museum  that had—among other exhibits—a big pile of various rocks.  The draw of the big rock pile was the supposed presence of gemstones including diamonds if you hunted long enough and knowledgeably enough to find them.  Whatever rocks you wanted to keep were yours. An expert sat behind a table helping children to identify the rocks: agate, sandstone, aquamarine, quartz, marble, etc.  If my rock was just a piece of polished glass or limestone, I’d throw it back on the pile and keep looking for something better.  As a child, I didn’t have the discernment of the expert.

Yesterday, we saw that we all start somewhere with the process of growing in holiness and taking steps toward Christian maturity.   Today, Peter educates us on the role of discernment in becoming the holy people of God (1 Peter 2:4-10).

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, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through    Jesus Christ.  For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone,  and  the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame”       (1 Peter 2:4-6).

The longer we are on the Way of Holiness, the more likely we’ll develop discernment to see what Peter calls the precious cornerstone: Jesus.  Like the situation at the lapidary, plenty of people rejected this Stone, overlooking Jesus as worthless.  They stumbled.  They fell.  They tossed Jesus away like I threw away sandstone, limestone, or something ugly.

But the expert at the table, when something truly precious came his way, he recognized it.  Those who have encountered Jesus as our precious stone—the cornerstone of our faith—we cherish Him.  Without Him, we’re just a pile of worthless rocks.  But He’s valuable.  We can trust Him as an expert builder to build His church with us—living stones.

Discernment to see this Precious Stone comes from knowing God’s Word and listening to the Holy Spirit as we grow toward Christian maturity.  Have you trusted this Precious Stone?