Enjoy this short blog AND the Sunday Message Colleen Watamaniuk shared at Hope Fellowship last week.  I am certain you will be encouraged by both!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7gq4Oq8uRk 

Living Stones

One of my favourite places is the beach!  I love walking the shoreline, digging my toes in the sand and seeing what the water washes up.  I am always keeping an eye out for stones that have some unique pattern, colour, texture or shape to them. When our children were young we used to love doing this together and often our trunk would be loaded down with the treasures we had found during the day. A number of those stones can still be found on display in our home today.  They are stones I have kept because they remind me or speak to me of the ones I love.

One stone is really black and shiny with lots of rough edges.  It reminds me of one of my sons. The depth of colour in this stone is incredible! There is so much to love about this particular stone…it has all kinds of angles and points to it, but at its core, it is a very soft rock. Just like my boy! Another stone I have on display is smooth and well worn. It holds the impressions of fossilized plants. It is a really lovely rock and it speaks to me of another son whose is an old soul with a tender heart. One of my favourite finds is an old Native hammer head found while panning for gold in the North Saskatchewan River. My husband found it and was absolutely elated! It reminds me of him. First it was found not far from where he grew up so it is like a piece of home.  But it is also filled with history and mystery….just like him. I love how strong this rock looks and how it must have been used to build and to protect and to provide.  Just like my man!

What I love most about rocks and stones is how they speak to me of my Father. Over and over again in scripture our God is defined as a Rock.

“For who is God, besides the LORD? And who is a rock, besides our God?” 2 Samuel 22:32

“Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26:4

“The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; and exalted be God, the rock of my salvation.” 2 Sam 22:47

“Hear my cry, O God,  listen to my prayer; from the ends of the earth I call out to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
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 2:6

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 1 Peter 2:4

Clearly this language of stones and rocks is a metaphor chosen by our God to remind us of who He is. He is strong and faithful, He is unchanging and unmovable. He is personal. He is our Rock. He is our Living Stone!  Remember the stones I mentioned that remind me of my boys…..one offers both strength and tenderness in the same rock and the other is filled with impressions. Both of these are just like my Jesus! Strength and tenderness are found in Him. And on His hands are engraved our names. His hands bear the impressions of each of our lives. That truth alone is enough to remind me that I am living loved every day!

If that were not enough to remind us of whom our Father is, He goes one step further by extending this same quality to us! He calls us, His offspring, Living Stones as well!
Present yourselves as living stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.  1 Peter 2:5

You and I are living stones! We are being built into something very special…a sanctuary filled with vibrant, divine, holy, God filled, God loved Life!

I cannot wait to return to the beach this summer! I have some stones to gather as my collection is not yet complete. Perhaps this will inspire you to collect some stones of your own.  I know of two that you can already add….our God, who is our Rock and you….His living stone!