Rocks

I’ve been thinking about rocks.

I don’t usually think about rocks at all.

Lately I’ve found myself thinking about them a lot.

It all started this past spring when PB and I started a landscaping project.

We were in way over our heads, but had no choice because every landscaper we contacted was scheduled into 2022. We spent a lot of time wandering around the garden center looking at trees and bushes and plants. And rocks.

One day the owner took pity on us and came out to help us make decisions about landscaping stones. An hour later, our heads were swimming with information about stones, rocks and boulders. He wasn’t just a good salesman, he was absolutely passionate about rocks and became more animated as the minutes ticked on. We learned the pros and cons of every type of landscape stone. We heard stories of how he hunts for and finds rocks with unusual shapes and colors. We were given a tour of his prize boulders.

When we finally got to the car I shook my head and said, “That guy was nuts!” PB and I agreed that we had not met many people with such fervent excitement about anything, let alone rocks. As we drove out of the garden center I commented, “If only more Christians were as excited about Jesus as that man is about rocks.”

In the days that followed, something weird happened. I started seeing rocks everywhere. I began to check out my neighbors’ landscaping stones. I noticed boulders at the end of a friend’s driveway. I saw a pile of rocks in a field and was tempted to go pick up a few. Then PB and I took off for a few days and we came home with a stack of rocks in our car. What was happening?

I think I’ve figured it out.

The crazy garden center guy drew our attention to something we previously hadn’t paid any attention to. His enthusiasm and joyful energy struck us as a bit over-the-top, yet we had to admire his desire to share what he loved and to open our eyes to what we had been missing. Sure, I drove away shaking my head and calling him crazy, but now I’m picking up stones from the side of the road and figuring out how to build a rock wall and archway in our backyard.

So, what if more Christians were as excited about Jesus
as my landscaping friend is about rocks?

Would our warm passion for Jesus
and our sincere excitement about our faith
naturally bubble over in our conversations?

Would our desire to share what we love
cause some people to see what they’re missing?

Would Jesus start showing up everywhere they look
simply because we drew their attention to something
they hadn’t really paid much attention to before?

Would people begin to become interested
just because we were brave and bold enough
to be a little over-the-top?

They may shake their heads and call us crazy.
But a few may start building their lives on the true Cornerstone.