Hello Everyone,
This morning I was reading the devotional from Our Father Cares posted below. It seemed fitting for this Christmas season with its sparkling, jewel toned lights and bright festive colors reminding us that once again we are celebrating one of, if not, the most significant event in human history - God becoming human. But He became human for a very specific purpose, to ransom back His lost jewels. In this sin filled world, those jewels have lost their luster and have gained some rough edges from the harsh treatment they've endured. But God sees below the damage and raw ore and knows the beauty and value that lies beneath the surface. Very carefully He seeks out His precious gems and begins the process of restoration. Sometimes that process is a gentle buffing, othertimes it requires more severe chisling and sanding to remove burrs, chips, and rough edges. Read on below to see how much God loves His rare and precious jewels as He prepares them to be part of His living temple.
Shine With Living Brightness
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Malachi 3:17. {OFC 282.1}
Christians are Christ’s jewels, bought with an infinite price. They are to shine brightly for Him, shedding forth the light of His loveliness. And ever they are to remember that all the luster that Christian character possesses is received from the Sun of Righteousness. {OFC 282.2}
The luster of Christ’s jewels depends on the polishing that they receive. God does not compel us to be polished. We are left free to choose to be polished or to remain unpolished. But everyone who is pronounced worthy of a place in the Lord’s temple must submit to the polishing process. He must consent to have the sharp edges cut away from his character, that it may be shapely and beautiful, fitted to represent the perfection of Christ’s character. . . . {OFC 282.3}
The divine Worker spends little time on worthless material. Only the precious jewels does He polish after the similitude of a palace. With hammer and chisel He cuts away the rough edges, preparing us for a place in God’s temple. The process is severe and trying. It hurts human pride. Christ cuts deep into the experience that man in his self-sufficiency regarded as complete, and takes away self-uplifting from the character. He cuts away the surplus surface, and putting the stone to the polishing wheel, presses it close, that all roughness may be worn off. Then holding the jewel up to the light the Master sees in it a reflection of His own image, and it is pronounced worthy of a place in His temple. {OFC 282.4}
Blessed be the experience, however severe, that gives new value to the stone, enabling it to shine with living brightness! . . . {OFC 282.5}
[The Lord] has workers whom He will call forth from poverty and obscurity. Engaged in the common duties of life, and clothed with coarse raiment, they are looked upon by men as of little value. But Christ sees in them infinite possibilities, and in His hands they will become precious jewels, to shine brightly in the kingdom of God. “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Host, in that day when I make up my jewels.” (Malachi 3:17). {OFC 282.6}
Christ’s perfect knowledge of human character fits Him to deal with minds. God knows just how to treat each soul. He judges not as man judges. He knows the real value of the material upon which He is working in fitting men and women for positions of trust. {OFC 282.7}
Though God sees His children as jewels that need polishing, more often than we'd like to admit we cause the damage that God has to repair. Read the devotional below from Our Father Cares to see how Jesus relates to us even when we are the ones who make the mistake.
Service To God Begins On Earth
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:17. {OFC 276.1}
Those who work against the natural laws of the being must suffer the penalty of transgression. But the Saviour pities us, even when we suffer from infirmities caused by our own wrong course of action. In Him there is a healing power for us. Let us praise God for the tree of life, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations. . . . {OFC 276.2}
Everywhere the effects of the curse are seen. Let us praise God that in the earth made new “there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him” (Revelation 22:3). Some little know what true service means. Those who expect to sing in an entertainment spend time in practicing, to familiarize themselves with the music and the words. That we may learn how to serve the Lord in heaven, we must enter His service now, becoming acquainted with Him and learning to be faithful servants. . . . {OFC 276.3}
It is our privilege to understand the blessed Word of God. We have fallen, it is true, but we are not always to remain in sin. We have been placed on vantage ground. The Lord God of heaven “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). What a precious hope we have in Christ! . . . {OFC 276.4}
Temptations will come. But when Satan throws his hellish shadow before us, we should reach in faith through the shadow to the light of life—to Him who has not only created man but who by His own blood has redeemed him. We are Christ’s cherished heritage. In living faith we must cooperate with Him in working out our own salvation. Amid trials and temptations His hand upholds and sustains us. Those who rest in Christ Jesus are never restless or uneasy. He means just what He says when He bids us commit the keeping of our souls unto Him, as to a faithful Creator. {OFC 276.5}
Those who hold fast their faith unto the end will come forth from the furnace of trial as fine gold seven times purified. Of this work the prophet Isaiah says, “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir” (Isaiah 13:12). When in trouble, remember that faith tried in the furnace of affliction is more precious than gold tried with fire. Remember that there is One watching every movement, to see when the last particle of dross is taken away from your character. {OFC 276.6}
So this Christmas season as you look upon the colored lights and gold tinsel, remember that God came to this earth to gather you, His precious jewel, and place you in a pure gold setting as His ransomed treasure.