Dare 2 Share - You have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you (Colossians 3:10)
Of course God doesn’t need a job. I’m fairly confident that He has more than enough to do with running the entire universe and all. I’m sure glad that He takes His job seriously, aren’t you? For example, did you know that if God allowed the earth to get just a little bit off course, we’d all be either human popsicles or poster children for tanning oil?
But if our Father did end up needing to find employment, He would make an excellent lapidary- don’t you agree? Oh, maybe you need a little clarification- no problem:
Lapidary is the term for a cutter, polisher, or engraver of precious stones. In other words, he or she takes rough looking rocks and (through extreme skill and patience) turns them into the gems that folks pay the big bucks for in the jewelry store.
So why would God qualify as a lapidary? Because in a way, He has been practicing this art since the beginning of time. No, God doesn’t sit around and polish stones in His spare time; rather He uses these skills on people.
Huh?
Remember what you were like before you trusted Christ? Or perhaps how you would have turned out if you never had been saved? I know... scary picture- and it’s the same with me. Yet God is not content to leave us that way. To Him we are rough stones who have incredible potential to become precious jewels…but only after years of being refined and polished.
God delights in using the sand of circumstances, the tool of trials, and the fabric of failures to remove the tarnish of our transgressions and the stain of our shortcomings. People who resist this are just not very bright- in more ways than one! Those who allow God to be a lapidary in their lives can lavish in the luxury of love.
Are you a stone that keeps jumping of God’s table? He is very patient, but He is also determined to make you into a dazzling display.
Why does He take the time to be a lapidary? Does our Savior find joy in the pain of our lives? Absolutely not! Dark clouds come into everyone’s lives- the difference is that Jesus uses them to make us more like Him. He also knows that life itself was intended to be lived looking like a diamond, not smelling like a dung heap.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:28-29)
So the issue is this- in looking back over the past few years of being a believer, are you looking more like the pit you were dug out of or the Person who gave His life for you?
God knows that you are starting to shine when He looks at you and sees a reflection of Himself.
Questions:
1) In what specific areas have you become more like Christ in the past 6 months- 1 year?
2) What areas of your life is God ‘polishing’ right now?
3) Do you often ‘jump off the table’? Why or why not?
Memory Verse:
And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more. (II Corinthians 3:18)
