January 1, 2002
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. Isaiah 51:1 (NIV)
Have you ever watched a
stonecutter at work? He takes a
sharp chisel and a hammer and begins to chip away the bad stuff to shape the
precious stone. Once he has it
shaped the way he desires it to be shaped, he then polishes the stone.
Here, we are told that those who pursue righteousness and seek the Lord
are cut from a rock. There is
action implied in pursuing and in seeking. That action is giving ourselves
totally and completely to the Lord Jesus Christ, in reading his word, in
praying, in doing those things that we are called to do.
Jesus, the stonecutter and the rock from which we are cut, chips away the
bad stuff. We cannot be righteous
under our own power. Righteousness comes from the Lord and in letting him have
control over our lives. We cannot
do this on our own. I have tried
and failed, so many times, to be good under my own power. I just cannot do it and neither can you.
Like the stone in the stonecutters hand, let us trust the one who cuts
away the bad and wait peacefully as he finishes the job of making us in his
image.
Stones do not fight the
stonecutters hands. Stones know
that only in the hands of the Master can they become the gleaming jewels they
are called to be. What seems like
contradiction in the above verse is in fact not a contradiction at all.
We cannot achieve righteousness short of the stonecutters hands.
Like the stones of jewels, we must learn to embrace the things in our
lives that free us of the things that are flawed and ugly.
We must learn to look at things through the eyes of the spirit as we
endure hardship. This is the cutting of the stonecutter. He is chipping away all that is not good.
In adversity we must learn to look to him as he is shaping us into what
we cannot see. In times of trouble
and hardship, he is with us always. He
does not leave us, just as the stonecutter does not leave the stone to cut
itself.
Our
part in pursuing righteousness is to learn from the lessons the Lord sends our
way, to look to him for our answers and our needs, to quit depending on things
outside of Jesus to make us happy, and to rest in his promises. This
is the first day of a new year in the Lord Jesus.
Let us start this new year by beginning to trust in him as he makes us
into his image.
Father, I lift each one to you as we embark on this journey to you. Lord, for the sake of your name, we need you now more than ever. You are calling to the Bride to be ready. Make us ready, Lord Jesus. We want to be found pure and holy on the day of your return. We know that your return is coming. We look to the skies for our deliverer is coming. He is drawing near to us as we let him. Lord in Jesus name you write the words you know that we need to hear. In Jesus name you guide this study. In Jesus name you use this to make us new in Jesus. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
All rights reserved: Amy Seelbach
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