Sailing Stones
Sailing Stones
You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
If you've ever heard the expression “A rolling stone gathers no moss,” then you will probably understand the concept of sailing stones found in remote areas of Death Valley, California. These heavy stones etch long tracks behind them across a dried lakebed known as Racetrack Playa. The stones, which range in size from several ounces to hundreds of pounds, seemed to travel along the desert ground without human or animal intervention.
No one has ever claimed to have actually seen them move, but the trails behind the stones seem to suggest that they do indeed move. In 2014 scientists were able to capture the stones’ movements using time lapse photography.
What the camera revealed was a propelling force of ice, water, and wind. Rains would collect, freezing overnight to create a slick surface that would thaw the next day. Winds would then break down the ice sheets, melting, with the effect of propelling the stones forward across the lake bed.
A rolling stone gathers no moss is a proverb with a bit of advice for people who cannot seem to settle in one place for long. Lichens and mosses grow slowly in stable environments, never on rolling stones. Some people sail through life because they fear settling in one place for too long, or staying with a job or in a relationship, often avoiding responsibilities and the cares of everyday life. But fear and faith are incompatible as rolling stones and moss. Trust in God, the rock of your salvation, is the right move.
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A stone is a dead, lifeless object! It cannot move on its own. But as we see in the devotion above, there is the ability of an outside force to impact the lifeless stone which causes it to move from one place to another. This outside force is for the most part unseen. Only when scientists became creative could they discover means by which the forces of nature moved the rocks.
What does it say to us that Peter declares that we are “living stones?” A stone is a lifeless object. It has no abilities in and of itself. If there is to be any movement, “life,” then there most come an outside force to impact it.
The same image can be applied to the lifeless lump of clay in the Garden of Eden. The form was that of a man, but there was no life in it. Not until an outside force impacted it and changed everything! God breathed into the form made out of dirt and the form became a living man, Adam!
The physical life given to Adam in the garden could only happen because God moved. God was a work turning what was dead and lifeless into a living being. The same reality is what Peter is addressing when he calls us living stones.
We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God has made us alive in Christ. We had no life in us and we were completely unable to do anything to move toward God. We were dead and destined for an eternity in hell.
But God moved! God came to us in the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit and we who were dead were given life. From dead to living stones! What a miracle conversion truly is!
A contrasting phrase to the one identified above would be the one we have all heard. We are to “bloom where we are planted.” How many people have we seen come and go from our churches over the years. There are many people who can never seem to settle down, dig in deep, and grow. Once the new wears off, they are off to another church.
God wants us to dig in deep and become connected and involved in a fellowship of believers. He wants to use those people to impact and change us while at the same time He wants to use us to impact and change them.
Think for a moment of those people you know who can never settle down. Always on the move from one church, or one job to another. They are always looking and always searching but never remaining long enough to obtain what they desire. We must not be like this. God wants us to be settled and grounded where we are at for the purpose of using us for His kingdom’s work.
Pray and ask God for His direction in your life and then truly be present where He wants you to be. Don’t roll away but bloom and flourish where He places you!
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Russ
You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
If you've ever heard the expression “A rolling stone gathers no moss,” then you will probably understand the concept of sailing stones found in remote areas of Death Valley, California. These heavy stones etch long tracks behind them across a dried lakebed known as Racetrack Playa. The stones, which range in size from several ounces to hundreds of pounds, seemed to travel along the desert ground without human or animal intervention.
No one has ever claimed to have actually seen them move, but the trails behind the stones seem to suggest that they do indeed move. In 2014 scientists were able to capture the stones’ movements using time lapse photography.
What the camera revealed was a propelling force of ice, water, and wind. Rains would collect, freezing overnight to create a slick surface that would thaw the next day. Winds would then break down the ice sheets, melting, with the effect of propelling the stones forward across the lake bed.
A rolling stone gathers no moss is a proverb with a bit of advice for people who cannot seem to settle in one place for long. Lichens and mosses grow slowly in stable environments, never on rolling stones. Some people sail through life because they fear settling in one place for too long, or staying with a job or in a relationship, often avoiding responsibilities and the cares of everyday life. But fear and faith are incompatible as rolling stones and moss. Trust in God, the rock of your salvation, is the right move.
+++
A stone is a dead, lifeless object! It cannot move on its own. But as we see in the devotion above, there is the ability of an outside force to impact the lifeless stone which causes it to move from one place to another. This outside force is for the most part unseen. Only when scientists became creative could they discover means by which the forces of nature moved the rocks.
What does it say to us that Peter declares that we are “living stones?” A stone is a lifeless object. It has no abilities in and of itself. If there is to be any movement, “life,” then there most come an outside force to impact it.
The same image can be applied to the lifeless lump of clay in the Garden of Eden. The form was that of a man, but there was no life in it. Not until an outside force impacted it and changed everything! God breathed into the form made out of dirt and the form became a living man, Adam!
The physical life given to Adam in the garden could only happen because God moved. God was a work turning what was dead and lifeless into a living being. The same reality is what Peter is addressing when he calls us living stones.
We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God has made us alive in Christ. We had no life in us and we were completely unable to do anything to move toward God. We were dead and destined for an eternity in hell.
But God moved! God came to us in the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit and we who were dead were given life. From dead to living stones! What a miracle conversion truly is!
A contrasting phrase to the one identified above would be the one we have all heard. We are to “bloom where we are planted.” How many people have we seen come and go from our churches over the years. There are many people who can never seem to settle down, dig in deep, and grow. Once the new wears off, they are off to another church.
God wants us to dig in deep and become connected and involved in a fellowship of believers. He wants to use those people to impact and change us while at the same time He wants to use us to impact and change them.
Think for a moment of those people you know who can never settle down. Always on the move from one church, or one job to another. They are always looking and always searching but never remaining long enough to obtain what they desire. We must not be like this. God wants us to be settled and grounded where we are at for the purpose of using us for His kingdom’s work.
Pray and ask God for His direction in your life and then truly be present where He wants you to be. Don’t roll away but bloom and flourish where He places you!
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Russ
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