The following story was told in our Sunday-school this afternoon, and I write it in hope that it will be the means of impressing a truth upon the minds of the readers of “Messages of Love.”
A man was standing beside a large stone one day, looking at it very attentively, and a passerby asked him what he could see in that stone that was of such interest to him? He replied, “I see an angel in it.” He had a man take that stone to his shop, and he set to work with his hammers and picks, etc., and in the course of a few weeks he had the figure of an angel carved in it. The stone was beautifully polished, and the figure carved in it was a specimen of fine workmanship, and the stone being of the best of marble, made it now a very costly ornament. When the stone was by the wayside it was covered with dirt, and few could see any beauty in it, but what a difference now after the sculptor had done his work upon it.
We are like the stone in which there is no beauty, covered with sin, and fit only to be cast from God’s presence forever. But when the Lord picks us up and does His work in our souls, what a change He makes in us. He makes us “meet (or fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Col. 1:1212Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12). And in Eph. 1:12,12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. (Ephesians 1:12) He says, “That we, should be to the praise of His glory.” This is true of all who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, whether old or young. He, is going to have all who have put their trust in Him, with Him in the glory, to be ornaments there to adorn the place, and to be to the praise of His glory. What a wonderful change He has wrought, and who would ever have thought that He would have found in us that which He could make use of for His own glory What love and grace on His part, and how our hearts should praise Him for doing so much for us.
If the skill of the sculptor was seen in the change he made in the piece of marble, the love of the blessed Lord is seen in the change He has made in all those who have accepted Him as their Saviour. We were once dead in sins; we are now alive in Him.
We were once in darkness; we are now in the light.
We were once enemies; we are now friends.
We were once far off; we are now near.
We were once haters of God; we now love Him.
We were once on the broad road; we are now on the narrow.
We were once on our way to hell; we are now on our way to heaven.
What a wonderful change!
ML 08/31/1902