The Rock©

A Limerick A Day to Keep You On Your Way©

There once was a Stone that made men stumble.

A Rock of offense that made them bumble.

Only One Stone

The Rock Alone

If trusted would have kept them all humble.

1 Peter 2:4-8 The Message Bible

The Stone

4-8 Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:

 Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion,

    a cornerstone in the place of honor.

Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation

    will never have cause to regret it.

 To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him,

 The stone the workmen threw out

    is now the chief foundation stone.

 For the untrusting it’s

 . . . a stone to trip over,

    a boulder blocking the way.

 They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.

 My yard is calling me. 

We don’t naturally pay attention to how rocks show up but my current home has an abundance. When I bought this house I needed to put a sewer line in. Thus began my stockpile of rocks. Small, medium, large, and very large. Along with the sewer line, put in by my brother-in-law, came a need to cut down two large pine trees. There were three of them all in a row. I was very happy because I disliked, no really hated how they blocked the sun.  I asked if he would be willing to cut the third one as well.  Yes.  Thank you a hundred times!  The ugly white picket fence had to go too. His son who often worked with him needed a project too. The son dug out all the bamboo covering approximately 1600 sq feet. It was a delight to see it go but now we needed dirt to fill in the empty spaces. My brother-in-law was able to bring a few loads of unscreened fill. Interesting things that come with that. I didn’t mind more rocks but glass, iron, and plastic not so much.  And definitely not the bicycle seat.

My landscaper neighbor then blessed me with several loads of clean fill. Three years of no bamboo was great, except I missed the privacy it gave. Bamboo is very resilient, Within those three years the rocks that were living under the ground started to appear.  For the next four years, I would dig them up and place them in the rock pile.  Some were easy to lift, others not so much. I have a very old red wagon that I would place them in and bring them to the pile. Some were just plain boulders and needed assistance to move by rolling. I had plans for all these rocks.

The more rocks I piled up the more I began to realize how much I love rocks. They come in all different configurations, sizes, colors, and densities. Nature’s elements have made them into what they become. We have the pleasure of changing their shape and their uses. Twelve more years have gone by along with some small projects and one very large one, an inlaw addition, that yielded more than thirty boulders, fifty-plus large rocks, and over two hundred medium-sized ones. They have graced my yard as a boundary for cars not to pull onto my property. Another border that appears as a secret garden, and other areas for weed control. Some are for diverting excessive water from rain,  I also have a small pile of rocks that hasn’t quite found its eventual resting place but just continues to grow. 

Stones, rocks, and boulders all made me wonder about the way Jesus is referred to in 1 Peter 2:8 Living Bible

8 And the Scriptures also say, “He is the Stone that some will stumble over, and the Rock that will make them fall. They will stumble because they will not listen to God’s Word nor obey it, and so this punishment must follow—that they will fall.

The Jewish Rulers, Leaders, and Scribes were witnessing the Stone in their day.  They knew the scriptures. They stumbled over the truth as Jesus became an offense to their way of life. Had they forgotten what Moses said in Deuteronomy 18:15 KJV?

15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.

They refused to believe Him and trust who He said He was. HE became the boulder that blocked the way to them seeing and hearing the truth.  It was right in front of them. Have you ever stumbled over a rock that was right in front of you?  How could you not see it? You stumble and fall as predicted.

If Jesus had not fully trusted His Heavenly Father, he too would have stumbled. His heart would have become a boulder blocking the way to his heavenly destiny. This is what became of the Jewish leaders. They forfeited their heavenly destiny because the stumbling stone was trusting in the tradition of religion and not Jesus. Religion is the boulder blocking the way to salvation.  Believing in Jesus opens the way.

As I survey my yard with its stone piles and rock boundaries I often think of how I would bring all these lovely rocks with me should I move.  Do I really believe there are no other rocks than the ones I have?  Where is my trust that He supplies all my needs, and often my earthly desires like rocks? The Lord gently reminds me He is the Only Stone, The Rock Alone, that I need wherever I go.

 

Pray this prayer with me.

Dear God,

I pray my heart is not a stone, but one of flesh.  I pray my heart is always pliable, conformable, and placed in the position You desire.  It may be a boundary at times. It may need to be chiseled.  It may lead to a secret garden I didn’t know existed, a place to beckon others to visit You through me. But never let it become a boulder that blocks my way to You.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.