A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"Living Stones"

At one end of the living room in the parsonage my family and I now reside is a beautiful stone fireplace. The other evening I was sitting there looking at it and memories of my days as a mason tender came to mind. The mason that I worked for was a master stone mason. I remembered watching him work. I was continually amazed at his ability to take a pile of oddly shaped, differently sized, and variously colored stones and place them together into a beautiful fireplace, fire hearth, front of a building, or whatever it was that he was building. He seemed to see each stone individually, knowing where it would best fit to give the best support to the structure and look as if it were made just for the spot it was placed. A pile of assorted stones made into a beautiful structure with function and purpose. I am still amazed.

There is a stone mason though, that is truly The Master. There is none to compare with Him. He builds a building like no other can build. Peter tells us about the building He builds in his first epistle. "You also, are like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5) The mason Himself is the cornerstone, giving plumb and stability to the the building. His name is Jesus.

Every Christian is a living stone in Christ Jesus. Without life in Him and His masonry work, we are nothing but a pile of rubble. But in Him we are alive and are being built to a spiritual house. We, with all our different shapes, colors, personalities, ways of doing things, become a beautiful spiritual house with function and purpose. He sees us individually, and with divine knowledge and wisdom places right where we need to be to give the best support to the house. We remain uniquely individual, but our individualism surrenders itself to the building. Jesus fits us together so that we accomplish the purpose for which He has built us.

What is that purpose? We are built to be a "holy priesthood offering to God spiritual sacrifices." To be holy is to be sanctified, cleansed and set apart for God's exclusive use. To be a priest is to be one who brings people to God. Whereas the prophet's role in the Old Testament was to speak for God to the people, the priest's role was to intercede for the people; to take the people to God and offer acceptable sacrifices to God on their behalf. The sacrifices we make are spiritual sacrifices, offering our whole being to God for His exclusive use to glorify Himself, accomplish His purposes, and draw all people unto Himself. (see Romans 12:1) We are not just a bunch of priest, but a "priesthood." One of us alone cannot fulfill this function. Many living stones, but one house!

Can we ever look at stone masonry the same way again? I will not. I pray that each time we see any type of stone structure we will be gloriously reminded that we "like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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