“Come to [the Lord], a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:4-5a,6 NRSV)
A stone wall was planned as a retaining wall above our house to keep the sandy bank from eroding. A lovely, mature cedar tree grew there, and we didn’t want it to topple onto our house. My husband hired a skilled local mason and prepared for construction by gathering large boulders from a granite outcrop high on a mountain road. Since it was natural rock, the boulders came in all shapes and sizes. There was even one shaped like a fish, an ancient symbol of Christ. The mason patiently fitted each of the jagged rocks into place like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The fish rock was placed in the middle of the wall, visible to all who passed by, and a subtle reference to our Christian faith. The cedar tree remained intact and was supported by our sturdy and beautiful wall.
Just as our wall was planned for a purpose, God planned that His Son Jesus, precious in His sight, would enter into our world to become one of us. Just as our stone wall was built from many rocks gathered together, let’s allow ourselves to be built together into a spiritual house. Just as the fish rock was a feature piece in our wall for all to see, so Christ is the Cornerstone of our spiritual house. As the rocks in the stone wall were chosen, we are specially chosen by God to be living stones. Each one of us — like each rock — is unique and different, but we are made to fit together to be part of His people, His functioning body.
“You are … God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 NRSV)
We first have to recognize our need of God, and ask Him, through His Son, to be the centre of our lives. We become one of His people. Built together in a structure and unified, we are then instructed to show Jesus to a world that is broken and fragmented by sin. Let us combine each of our distinctive gifts and talents, and let’s be effective in proclaiming His mighty acts to those who don’t yet know Him. Let’s be true living stones.
Prayer:Lord, thank You that You chose us to be part of Your eternal house. Help us to work together and take the initiative to reveal to the world all the wonderful things that You’ve done for us. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.
Copyright © 2021, by Alice Burnett < terrencera.burnett@gmail.com>, first published on the PresbyCan Daily Devotional presbycan.ca
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Used with the permission of PresbyCan and author.
