All Our Lives God Works On Us, Chiseling Away...

All our lives God works on us, chiseling away those parts of our life that hinder us from fitting into His eternal temple. Our Christian life is a work in progress. Jesus Christ is changing us from a useless stone to a useful one. Before Michelangelo created the masterpiece we know simply as “David,” Agostino d’ Antonio had worked diligently but unsuccessfully on a large piece of marble. He gave up his effort and said, “I can do nothing with it.” Some others tried after him but failed. This piece of marble was laid in a rubbish heap for 40 years. Out strolling one day Michelangelo saw the stone and believed that it had great possibilities. We know what happened. From that seemingly worthless stone was carved one of the world’s masterpieces of sculpture- David. For Michelangelo, the job of the sculptor was to free the forms that were already inside the stone. He believed every stone had a sculpture within it, and the work of sculpting was simply a matter of chipping away all that was not a part of the statue.

When Jesus looks at us, He sees not a rough piece of rock but He sees inside of us the potential to be a beautiful dressed stone useful in his temple. As the Master Sculptor He is able to chip away all that is not a part of what He wants us to be. This work of transformation is accomplished only by the One referred to as “The Living Stone.” F. B. Meyer says, “Stones touch the Stone and become jewels.” Stones useful in building God’s house.