Annie
Scriptures:
Malachi 3:17 Zechariah 9:16 John 21: 1-19 John 17: 6-24
Just after the midnight carol service ended on Christmas day 1967, outside the church where we had met, Mike and I officially got engaged and I began proudly wearing my beautiful engagement ring that we had chosen together. While I loved, and still love, my precious ring, there were some dissenting voices in our circle of friends who didn’t agree. “Where are the diamonds? That’s not an engagement ring.” You see, my ring is ruby and opals, not a diamond to be seen, but to me precious, unique and of inestimable value.
Why have I related this piece of far off history? There is a dissenting voice that constantly tells us we are so far below par, that we are not what we should be, that we are valueless and not fit for any purpose. Or that we don’t fit into what the world regards as valuable or precious, we aren’t flashy enough, we don’t sparkle in the way that the world applauds and values. And this voice is ceaseless, BUT it only ever speaks lies, deceit and falsehoods.
God, who is Truth and speaks nothing but truth, says we are His as He makes us His precious jewels, that we are like jewels in His crown. Jewels that He smooths and fashions His way. And to our wonderful Abba Father, whether we are a bright shining diamond or a softly glowing pearl or an iridescent opal, we are His beautiful, precious jewels, more valuable to Him than we can ever understand with our limited minds.
The eyes of Love that gaze on us see so far beyond the dirt and grit that encases us. Those eyes of tenderness and compassion already see the fire and life within, that will only be fully revealed when He has perfected His creation. Those eyes of pride watch intently as He sees us begin to shed the shell hiding our true beauty as we submit to His working in us. Those eyes of assurance hold our gaze as He encourages, comforts and sustains us through the process of becoming His completed, perfect jewel.
As Peter sat by the fire in the dawn light listening to the cock crowing, his heart was broken, then the overflowing love of his Friend, his Master poured out of the eyes that turned to him, but the guilt and shame continued to haunt him. Each time he heard a cock crow, or sat by a fire, the incessant voice in his head reminded him of what a failure he was, reminded him of how much he had let Jesus down. Until the morning that John recognised that it was the Risen Christ Jesus standing on the beach beside a fire in that early morning light. As Peter dived into the water, he may well have heard a cock crowing. As he approached the glowing fire on the sand and saw the One he had betrayed, his heart would have been so full of trepidation. Yet in that wonderful moment, Jesus expunged that hideous memory of betrayal and shame and replaced it with forgiveness, love and utter compassion. From then on, each time Peter heard a cock crow, or saw the glowing embers of a fire, he would remember the tender words “Feed My sheep”.
So it is with us. The memories that we have of all that we have done or not done, every time we have failed, fallen, intentionally or unintentionally sinned, are wiped away by the words of Christ recorded in John 17: 20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
We truly are precious, flawless jewels in the Hands of our Father God, being fashioned and polished with His Loving care.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for seeing the beauty that You have created in us, thank You for Your ceaseless love and compassion toward us, thank You for making us Your Precious Jewels. Amen.