Author Confessions: Rocks as Treasure

Now when I talked about rocks a few weeks ago here, I was looking perhaps at a more spiritual dimension of the idea of rocks. The reality is we often highly value rocks!

For instance, I wear a lovely diamond ring that my husband bought for me. It didn’t have to fancy and they are lab-made diamonds but they are still rocks. It it is beautiful and I treasure it because of what it symbolizes in my marriage. He’s frugal and managed to purchase it off Craigslist. The man who sold it scrimped and saved to use to propose to his girlfriend but before he could do so, she cheated on him. The ring is worth far more than he paid for it because of that. It doesn’t matter. It was a gift from him. I’ve known some women whose husband designed their wedding rings without their soon-to-be-wife’s input. While the rings is unique and lovely, it isn’t what they would have prefered, but they don’t say anything because of the thought, time, and effort that the husband put into the design. Even if it wasn’t what they wanted, they wear them proudly and treasure them.

I’m not one for fancy jewelry. I’m not a fancy-pants kind of gal. Sure I can dress up nice, but I’m not about glitter and glammer. Most of my jewelry contains synthetic versions of stones I wanted to have to wear from a ruby, pink star sapphire, blue start stapphire, among other stones. Yet when my daughter had significant birthdates, I purchased for her jewelry with her real birthstone: ring, earrings, necklace. I don’t know if she appreciates them at this time, but they are hers. My birthday has two birthstones and one is quite pricey. I bought a synthetic one. Alexandrite is cool because it changes colors dependig on the light. A real one is normally red and green. My fake one is green and purple. It’s still a cool rock.

In Scripture, pearls were highly valued. We are not to toss them before swine and a man sold everything to buy a field where he found buried pearls. Pearls themselves are interesting because they are dirt that has been encapsulated over time as a defense against an intruder. An oyster’s refuse becomes a person’s treasure.

In Scripture the pearl is a metaphor for faith in Jesus. Sacrificial, and a treasure to be protected. The solid rock that is Christ is a gem of great beauty and we won’t get to fully see that until we get to heaven.

There are many other things we can treasure, obviously rocks are not my main desire in life. Anything I might hold as more important than the treasure of Jesus Christ and His extravagant gift of salvation through death on the cross, and His miraculous resurrection, is trash. Sometimes, I’m my own biggest stumbling block to my faith.

Scripture talks about precious stones, silver, and gold, lining the roads or walkways of heaven. As gorgeaous as they are they will be trod upon but those who find their salvation in Him. When the time comes I’ll appreciate the beauty of all those rocks even more as I worship the Savior I treasure above all else.

How about you? We vare currently in a season of lent. What treasures do you need to loosen your grip on to focus on the treasure of Jesus Christ?