Hidden Treasures
“…for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of
all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you
to be his treasured possession.� (Deuteronomy 14:2 NIV)
The little girl sat alone on a strip of stony beach, intently
looking at the smooth grey rocks that surrounded her,
while others of her family cavorted in the waves a little
“…for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of
all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you
to be his treasured possession.� (Deuteronomy 14:2 NIV)
The little girl sat alone on a strip of stony beach, intently
looking at the smooth grey rocks that surrounded her,
while others of her family cavorted in the waves a little
distance away. Carefully, she picked up one stone after another and after each
smiling inspection put it in a growing mound in front of her. After she made her
selections for the afternoon, she wandered a short distance down the beach and
returned to her spot hauling such a large rock that it required both her little hands
to manage it.
Laughingly ignoring her sisters calling her to join them in their giddy play, she
settled down to her chosen occupation for that sunny afternoon. She placed one
of her chosen stones on top of a very large, flat outcropping of granite that
protruded through the smaller beach pebbles. The muscles in her thin, five-year-
old arms straining, she raised her big rock high and brought it down with a
resounding thunk on the selected stone. With concentration worthy of a highly
trained gem appraiser, she picked up the resulting pieces of stone, marveling at the
fresh colors, the glitter of tiny crystals and the delicate lacing of quartz across the
surface. Satisfied, she set the pieces aside and turned her attention to the next little
rock. Over and over, she whacked away at the rocks, always delighted at the
interior revealed by her efforts and seemingly never disappointed with her results.
Often we view the people around us with the same lack of enthusiasm that we feel
for plain, ordinary beach rocks. Even people we dearly love are so familiar to us
that they are as unexciting as a smooth, grey stone. But just as each common
stone hides an interior that is as fresh and glittering as when it was first brought
into being by the hand of God, we are His treasures and no amount of sinful
weathering can permanently obliterate the gleaming, forgiven person within.
The children in our classrooms are experts at looking beyond the obvious. They
don’t hesitate to look behind obstacles, under debris or around corners to find
what they want. If our desire is to reach out to each other in Christian love and to
spread the Good News to all, we must be equally dogged in our efforts to delve
deep into hearts crusted over with sin.
Consider the enormous effort the little girl put into finding the “treasure�
inside of each stone. We have a Christian obligation to make that same level of
effort to view each other with love; seeing past plain, familiar, or perhaps even
unpleasant exteriors. Each day we are called to raise the “stone� of the
Gospel message of love and forgiveness high above our heads and bring it down
with vigor on each obscuring shell of sin, revealing the beloved and treasured
children of God who are all around us, just waiting to be set free. Thunk!
© 2007 Elizabeth Williams
smiling inspection put it in a growing mound in front of her. After she made her
selections for the afternoon, she wandered a short distance down the beach and
returned to her spot hauling such a large rock that it required both her little hands
to manage it.
Laughingly ignoring her sisters calling her to join them in their giddy play, she
settled down to her chosen occupation for that sunny afternoon. She placed one
of her chosen stones on top of a very large, flat outcropping of granite that
protruded through the smaller beach pebbles. The muscles in her thin, five-year-
old arms straining, she raised her big rock high and brought it down with a
resounding thunk on the selected stone. With concentration worthy of a highly
trained gem appraiser, she picked up the resulting pieces of stone, marveling at the
fresh colors, the glitter of tiny crystals and the delicate lacing of quartz across the
surface. Satisfied, she set the pieces aside and turned her attention to the next little
rock. Over and over, she whacked away at the rocks, always delighted at the
interior revealed by her efforts and seemingly never disappointed with her results.
Often we view the people around us with the same lack of enthusiasm that we feel
for plain, ordinary beach rocks. Even people we dearly love are so familiar to us
that they are as unexciting as a smooth, grey stone. But just as each common
stone hides an interior that is as fresh and glittering as when it was first brought
into being by the hand of God, we are His treasures and no amount of sinful
weathering can permanently obliterate the gleaming, forgiven person within.
The children in our classrooms are experts at looking beyond the obvious. They
don’t hesitate to look behind obstacles, under debris or around corners to find
what they want. If our desire is to reach out to each other in Christian love and to
spread the Good News to all, we must be equally dogged in our efforts to delve
deep into hearts crusted over with sin.
Consider the enormous effort the little girl put into finding the “treasure�
inside of each stone. We have a Christian obligation to make that same level of
effort to view each other with love; seeing past plain, familiar, or perhaps even
unpleasant exteriors. Each day we are called to raise the “stone� of the
Gospel message of love and forgiveness high above our heads and bring it down
with vigor on each obscuring shell of sin, revealing the beloved and treasured
children of God who are all around us, just waiting to be set free. Thunk!
© 2007 Elizabeth Williams