Rev. Ray and Pat Amos

Isaiah 51:1

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, September 16, 2019

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn…”

Buildings that are made of stone often have a story about where the rock came from. It may be native rock, perhaps from someone’s old home place, or maybe from some exotic location that greatly increases the value of it.

Jesus is our “Rock of Ages,” and as Christians, we come from a quarry with a great heritage. We are called living stones that are being built into a spiritual house… (1 Peter 2:5). Simon understood what that meant because he himself was given a new name by Jesus, “Peter,” or “Rock.”

Think about it: we have been chiseled out of the same rock that is Christ. That means that we are strong enough to withstand the hard blows of the devil. When his hellish hammers have worn out, we will just be getting started with eternal joy.

We have also come from the same quarry that has produced Christianity’s great soldiers of the cross: Those who have given us solid Theology, grand hymns, and examples of faithfulness and courage to live Holy lives. Saints that we love and can call by name glisten like gems in our own stonework.

The Bible says that the stones in the temple were cut and shaped away from the building site. The same is true for us. The painful shaping and making our life ready for Heaven is done right here on earth. Soon enough we will be ready to take our place in the living temple where all is joy and praise, but until then:

“But until then my heart will go on singing
Until then with joy I’ll carry on
Until the day my eyes behold my Savior
Until the day God calls me home.”

Grace and Peace, Rev Ray

Until Then