It’s fun to spin stones across a vast expanse of water.  The stone skips a few times and then sinks.  Sometimes they have a soft, smooth exterior – other times they’re rough and may even cut through skin.  Stones have been used to construct monuments, buildings, landscaping spaces and have been used for centuries as tools as well as finished products.

God was referred as a stone in Gen. 49:24 In the New Testament, believers are referred to as stones in 1 Peter 2:5.  God built his church on the cornerstone – Jesus, Christ, the Savior of all.  Jesus also talked about stones when he said, “Let him without sin cast the first stone.”

Every one of us has some secret sin, hidden from the world.  It can be a lustful thought, greed, anger, frustration, loss of hope, fear – or may even go much deeper to a sin of murder, thievery or sexual perversion.  Every sin is equal in God’s eyes.  No matter what the sin, the punishment is the same.  We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s expectations. The wages of sin is death – eternal death in hell –  a place of perpetual pain, fire, thirst that is never satisfied and what every one of us deserves.

Today the headlines are full of people who’ve done heinous crimes and have become addicted to sin.  Their consciences have become numb so do ours.  Before we throw that first stone, let’s examine what’s going on in our hearts and see if we can justify ourselves.

There isn’t a single thing we can do.  By the grace of God we are saved.  If we use that  as a ticket to do anything we want with our new freedom, it’s like throwing a stone in God’s face.  We continually need to repent and with God’s strength overcome temptation to sin again.

Our final rest when death takes us to heaven – the crystal palace with unshakeable walls.  I can’t wait!