JANUARY 17, 1 Peter 2:5-10

Have you seen stones that are alive? Of course not! A stone is a non- living thing and therefore cannot have life. So what does Peter mean by these verses? Peter was writing figuratively, and with a lot of imagination. He likened the body of believers that meet in a particular place, such as people who meet in your church, to a building. God has many churches in the world and on a global basis, these churches form one “Universal Church” with Jesus Christ being the most important part of this structure as the “chief cornerstone”. What then is a cornerstone? And what is a chief cornerstone?

Imagine you are building a simple house that has four walls. These walls take reference from corners so we know where these walls start and end. In ancient times, usually big stones would be placed at these four corners so they are stable and mark out the size of the house. But before these “four cornerstones are placed, they in turn have to take reference from the chief cornerstone which is placed first. That is the idea of Christ being our chief cornerstone – the church must take reference from Jesus in how we organise church or Sunday School activities and how we live our lives. We believers will then be the “lively stones” that make up the rest of this building.

What does this teach us? Let us just concentrate on one lesson – the need for us to be close to other believers. If we are to be lively stones in one building, we cannot be too far away from each other. No believer should be a loner. No believer should be excluded from the bond of fellowship and friendship with other believers. No building is made from one stone.

All the stones, or bricks in a house, are placed near to each other, stacked on top of each other to add to the strength of the structure. Only when the stones are together can there be a proper structure. The whole body of believers together comprises that spiritual house with each believer serving the Lord, “an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (verse 5).

Thought: We are to be lively stones!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may I learn to value fellowship with other Christians and remember that I have to be a part of them, and they a part of me. I also thank You for the reminder that only Jesus is the chief cornerstone, and with Him in the building, the structure cannot be wrong! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.