Sapphires, diamonds and rubies are precious stones, but their true beauty can only be seen when they are polished.  The first step in that process is to knock off pieces of debris with a hammer.  Let’s look now at the second step.

 

In 1 Peter we are described as ‘living stones’ who are being built into a spiritual house.  What kind of stone are you?  Let’s look at the process that is used to polish a stone as there are important lessons we can learn.  First of all a hammer is used to knock off pieces of debris and dirt.  It says in Jeremiah 23:29,  “Is not my Word like a hammer – that breaks a rock into pieces?”

One country renouned for precious stones is Myanmar.  During a trip some years ago we visited a museum there and marvelled at the sapphires, rubies, pearls and jade.  As beautiful as they were, it pales into insignificance compared to the glory of heaven, which is described as ‘a very precious jewel’.