The reliable stone

Monday March 14, 2022

The reliable stone

You have tasted that the Lord is good. Approaching him, a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen and precious with God... 1 Peter 2:3,4

During the construction of a departmental railway line in France, on September 20, 1902, the highest arch of a viaduct suddenly gave way. Nine workers rushed into the void crashed 35 meters below in the bed of the river. It was thought that the disaster was due to the rupture of a crow (stone that supports the scaffolding). Perhaps this stone had not been chosen with enough care and its weakness had not been noticed.

All the workers were traumatized by the death of their companions. For the rest of the work, we then took much more care in choosing these stones. A mason wanted to take over the work. He thoroughly washed each stone to serve as a crow, to remove any that might have the slightest imperfection.

This story is a good illustration of the importance, for a construction, of relying on quality stone, carefully chosen to provide good support points. It is no different in the spiritual realm. The Apostle Peter says that Jesus Christ is truly the rock on which our faith can be safely founded. Let us imitate the mason who took over the work after the disaster. Let us examine carefully in the Gospels the life, words and deeds of Jesus. We will discover the perfection of Him who is called the living stone, foundation stone and cornerstone, on whom the whole building rests. It is unique. We can gladly rely on him and base our lives on him.

This story shows us that just as the physical life of Masons depended on the quality of a single stone, so our eternal life depends solely on Jesus Christ. Moreover, upon this one foundation is His entire Church built (Matthew 16:16,18). Let us beware and cast away the stones which would constitute a bad foundation for our faith. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, chosen, precious; and he who believes in it will not be ashamed (1 Peter 2:6).

Source (Pleasing the Lord)