Stephen spoke from 1 Peter 2:4-6 TNIV this morning, reminding us that we are all ‘living stones’. It was a message to each one of us individually and collectively, for this passage describes what every Christian is in Christ.
Stones are generally thought of as inanimate objects. I love stones. Being on a beach full of pebbles and stones is a great experience, for there is so much diversity there. When we were in Laxey, Garry and Stephen both spent hours skimming stones into the sea; we discovered subsequently that there is actually a stone-skimming championship held annually in the UK!
God calls us ‘living stones‘, however. A stone generally is not living; it doesn’t fulfil the MRS GREN category for life (to be classed as living, things have to have Movement, Respire, have Sensitivity, Grow, Reproduce, Excrete and need Nutrition). God gives life to the dead, however, and we have been brought from death to life (Eph 2:1-7 TNIV). We are no longer passive or inanimate, for God, the Giver of all Life, has breathed life into us. Our God is alive and makes us alive!
We all matter to God and are important to Him. We all have purpose in Him, purpose which is growing and ongoing. Again, we tend to think of a building as being lifeless and some buildings don’t even seem to have any purpose, but we are being built into a holy house. If God lives within us by His Spirit, then there is life within the house! We are chosen by God and every day of our lives can know purpose and meaning, our lives shining forth with vibrancy and colour because God is like that! We need God to keep the fires burning in our lives so that we do not become jaded and lifeless, but instead let God’s light shine through us.