Jewels and Gems Shining for Jesus

Isaiah 45:2:I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.
3: I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

In order for precious jewels to become valuable and useful they must first be cut out, refined, and polished to become useful. Think of diamonds, pearls, rubies and other gemstones. I think of the old testament and the breastpeice that the priests wore. It was covered in the front with four rows of three gems. They were carefully crafted into shape by gifted craftsmen. Each type of stone represented one of the twelve tribes. It is kind of an illustration to us of a church body at it's best. We are made of many people, have many ideas, but how beautiful could it be if we would all learn somehow to join together in harmony together in the same place. How we could shine for Jesus and be that lighthouse on the hill that he has called us to be. I believe in my local church we are making progress in this area.

As I have spent most of my life in the church I have watched the church transform from the overly legalistic training where you went to church every Sunday morning and every Sunday night and every Wednesday night for prayer meeting and you strictly followed lots of rules and regulations. It has now transformed to almost the opposite. Now almost anything is acceptable and we as the members of the church body do our own thing and we are all supposed to be opened-minded and acceptable to any behavior. My dilemma comes when I see my brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering consequences needlessly, because choices they make that are not the best biblical decisions, but some of those same choices I also made and through some discipling that I received from loving mentors who prayed with me and helped me through these difficult times I grew in my faith. I am not sure how I can help my church family members to grow in those areas that I have grown in, because when you reach out to support them, you may be seen as being too legalistic. But I think of those stones on the breastplate and the work that went into preparing them for the garments. The cutting away of the dull unnecessary parts that will not shine. The polishing and the cleaning that goes in to it. The Word of God can cleanse us and also it will refine and renew us.

I think also of Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. This is talking about iron, but it reminds me of when you sharpen metal, the dullness leaves and the shininess of the metal naturally exposes itself. I am left with the question of how can I be a part of making us shine best for Jesus in the church body? How can I proceed to be a part of the desire that Christ has laid on my heart to prepare His church to be the bride that He is coming back to claim as His that we can be that unstained beautiful unwrinkled bride when He returns. I must be careful how I do it. I do not want to offend people, or act like I am holier than others. I have a burden to bring discipleship into the church where we can encourage each other and walk our walk of faith together. Where it is ok to share our weaknesses and grow in our faith.

The Apostle Paul had this same desire and stated it in his words:

Colossi ans2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,
2: that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is Christ Himself,
3:in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I do know that Christ does have the answer for His church today, and in Him only can we find those hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The things that I desperately need to transform my life to fulfill the purpose he has for me. I also think about that picture in the Bible of are lives being like running in a race. We should run as to win the prize. Only one will win first place. I am now 48 years old. If I should live to be 70 the race is more than 2/3rd's finished. If I get back in the race as to even finish it, where does Christ my coach want me to be and what does He want me to do so I can finish the race with excellence by continuing to serve Him where my leader wants me to be.

I will soon be back in the race again. I want to be one of those who crosses the finish line and into the arms of Jesus and he gives me a huge hug and says "Well done my good and faithful servant."