GEM OR JUNK

Ephesians 5:15

    Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,

                We don’t often think about the significance of each individual day. We tend to see our lives from the perspective of the big events. As significant as those events are, it is the daily choices that we make that really shape our lives. The jewels in our crown that we will present to Jesus one day are cut from raw material each day.

                Each day is like a rough cut gem stone. The day begins in raw form, without clear definition or shape. As we go through our day, we shape the gem. If we are careful and wise, at the end of the day we have created a beautiful gem stone, worthy to be given to the King. If we are not careful, we mar the stone and end up with costume jewelry at best. Throughout the day we can either perfect our gem or place a flaw in it. Once the day is done, there is nothing we can do to change the outcome. We place that gem in our personal vault and start fresh the next day. At the end of our lives, we will open our vault, take out its contents, and place them at the feet of Jesus.

                The Apostle Paul used a different analogy to make the same point. It is found in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

                The way we live our daily lives is creating the treasure we have to take into eternity. If we are unwise in our daily choices, what we will have to take with us will be little. If we are wise in our daily choices, we will have treasure in abundance. It all depends on what we do with the rough-cut gem that God blesses us with each day. Will we let that gem be shaped by the world and its values or by Jesus and His values?

                Jesus drew that line in the sand during the Sermon on the Mount.

    "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

                Our life may seem to revolve around the big events along the way, but in reality, it is shaped by the routine choices we make day by day. How we will respond when the big events come is determined by the character we shape on a daily basis. The good news is that we get to start fresh each day. Each day is a new gem stone, ready to be shaped into something beautiful.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.