365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 208: Living Stone

Living Stone

"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, 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 2:4,5 NIV)

God is so good at putting things together that at first sound discordant but which, under His skillful conducting, ultimately sing together in harmony.

Weak who are strong.

Poor who are rich.

Wounds that heal.

Death that brings life.

Stones that live.

In Jesus—the Living Stone—and in us as we follow His lead "like living stones," the animate is merged with the inanimate. We borrow from the stone's example—its steadiness and solidity—but add to it our aliveness.

The stones that are not living will cry out if God is not praised...but we, the living stones, can and must praise Him: "'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples!' 'I tell you,' he replied, 'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out'"(Luke 19:38-40).

The stones that are not living cannot tell of God's past faithfulness...but we, the living stones, can and must remember and recount: "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the LORD has helped us'" (1 Samuel 7:12).

The stones that are not living cannot move themselves to create safe and correct boundaries...but we, the living stones, can and must rebuild the ancient lines: "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings" (Isaiah 58:12).

And the stone that was not living could not roll itself away from the tomb, but Jesus, the Living Stone, can and did open the way from death to life: "But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away" (Mark 16:4).

In that moment, Jesus settled Himself into place as the Chief Cornerstone for a spiritual house we are still called to be about the business of building. We, the living stones, build this house by doing what living things do: we breathe (the Breath of Life); we eat (the Living Bread); we drink (the Living Water); we grow (in the Sun); and we rest (in the Shelter).

If some do not understand what we are building, we remember the ultimate discord that turned into the most beautiful song: rejected, but chosen. 

And we sing on.