Hidden Jewels

Malachi 3:17, "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels."

Every saint is a jewel of God. I am convicted by God to look at people (and also my children) in this light. Often we cannot see the jewel as it hides behind the rough exterior. All we see is unsightly hard rock, but God wants us to look beyond what we see on the surface.

We sometimes hear the phrase, "He's a rough diamond." This means that the person is pretty rough on the outside but inside they have a heart of gold. We need to be reminded that there is a diamond, or perhaps a sapphire, an emerald, an opal, a ruby or an amethyst in each person. The jewel in every person is different. Each jewel will reveal different colors and lights of God's character. But we cannot see the beauty shining from the jewel until it has been cut and polished. And what a painful process this is. Much cutting has to be done o reveal the many-faceted hues and beauty of the gem. The cutting goes on and on. And when it is finished, the polishing starts. It hurts

I know God has to do so much more cutting and polishing with me. May we let Him do His work and cut away all the roughness and hardness. May we also have patience with all God's saints, even those who are still rough and uncut.

May God give us patience with our children. God has given us the task of being a lapidary (a cutter and polisher of gems). It is the lapidary's art to reveal the gem. Sometimes we may feel it is a hopeless job. But we must never give up hope. There is a jewel in every child of God. There is a precious jewel in every one of our children that waits to be revealed. We must see it by faith. We must pray it into being. May God give us vision, patience and understanding as we fulfill this great task. It does not happen over night. It is painstaking and time-consuming.

The above paragraphs were taken from an Above Rubies digest written by Nancy Campbell. What a blessing to me this morning! It helped me see the disciplining and discipling of my children in a new light. When children are young they need a lot of their sinful attitudes and selfish behaviors "cut away". When they are a bit older, they need their parents to "polish" them. What a glorious way to look at our commands in Scripture to raise up our children! To be lapidaries to them! Lord, thank you for blessing me with these words this morning. May I always look at Your children that You have entrusted to me as jewels. Help me to cut and polish them so they are ready for Your service.