hammer and chisel

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." This blog is dedicated to all those whom I have been privileged to cross paths with on this side of eternity. Those who have had the courage and the strength along the way to confront me when I'm wrong and continue to love me despite my weaknesses and shortcomings. Those who have gone out of their way to make an impact on the areas of my life that continually need developing. I would not be the person I am today without you. I am truly thankful from the bottom of my heart that God has seen fit to place people in and around my life to protect me, encourage me, but most of all make me a better person by being honest and letting me have it from time to time.

There's a story about a young boy that was walking on his way to school one morning and he happens to look into his neighbors yard and spots a massive boulder of granite. Curious, as most young boys are, he approached his neighbor and inquired about the large boulder. The old man, whom had a full white beard and wrinkles around his eyes and lips, responded that it actually wasn't a boulder at all, but it happend to be a lion. The young boy, confused as he was, shook his head and walked on to school. Each day, the boy could not help but notice the diligence of the old man swinging his hammer into the back of the pick and chipping away at this stone for hours and days on end. The boy slowly noticed that the boulder began to take on a shape. Indeed, each day the stone began to look more and more like a lion, until one day the boy walked by and he almost fell over in fear, because he was looking at the most life-like sculpture he had ever encountered. There was a beautiful lion in all it's glory looking right at him. A full mane, eyes shining, and teeth exposed. The young boy was awe struck. The old man approached the boy and took him back to the day which the boy first saw the boulder and began to speak. "You know son, there was lion inside this stone the whole time. I just simply had to chip away every part of the stone that wasn't part of the lion."

I feel that this is true of our lives as Christ followers. You see, Christ chooses to chip away every area of our life that is not part of what He is. This may take many different forms, but He sees us as that completed lion in all its glory. Some day we will be just like Him, but it takes friends and those willing to chip away at those areas that aren't part of Christ. Although the strikes of the hammer may hurt at times and the scars may not heal right away, you will be a better person because of it in the long run. In fact, 2 Ti 3:12 says that "all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when" if you truly desire to live as Christ.

I probably don't say this enough, but I truly thank God for each and everyone of you and I probably don't express that enough. I love you and perhaps you won't ever know how much until we are completed in Christ that one day and we can reminisce all those blows that we dealt each other out of love and respect and care for one another. So, please, by all means, keep swinging that hammer! I need it more than you could ever know!