John 1:42 (NIV)
And he brought him
to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be
called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
I read a story about a man who had a huge boulder in his
front yard. He grew weary of this big, unattractive stone in the center of his
lawn, so he decided to take advantage of it and turn it into an object of art.
He went to work on it with hammer and chisel, and chipped away at the huge
boulder until it became a beautiful stone elephant. When he finished, it was
gorgeous, breath-taking.
A neighbor asked, "How did you ever carve such a
marvelous likeness of an elephant?"
The man answered, "I just chipped away everything
that didn't look like an elephant!"
You may have heard a version of this story that uses the
name of Michelangelo as the man who is doing the sculpting (sometimes the story
gives his explanation of how the statue of David was created, other times the
statue of Moses).
But the story also illustrates how God creates men in His
likeness. He starts with nothing much more than a boulder, but like a great
artist, he sees the potential for what lies within and chips away until we are
shaped in His image.
Look at how Jesus dealt with men like Peter. Who would
have looked at Peter -- the loud mouth who was always saying things he would
later regret -- and seen the disciple he would become? Who would have looked at
James and John -- nicknamed "Sons of Thunder" because of their temper
-- and considered them to be ideal candidates? But Jesus had a way of looking
into the hearts of men and women, seeing not only what they were, but what they
had the potential to become. Then he set about the task of "chipping
away" to uncover the beauty that lay beneath the surface.
Wouldn't it be great it we could learn to look at those
around us the same way -- to see not only what they are, but to see what they
can become? If we would only do that, perhaps instead of seeing people as
"worthless boulders", we would set about the task of chipping away to
reveal their full potential.
Dear Lord, open our eyes so that we may see the potential
in those around us instead of the hunk of rock. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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