THE REJETED STONE

Paul speaks profoundly in 1 Corinthians 3:10

10According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.

Paul refers to himself here as a master builder. Today, in the body of Christ, there are many other master builders.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4 from verse 11 to 14

11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

We see here that Gifts in persons are given to the body of Christ to groom her unto maturity, till she is built like an edifice and take on the perfection of Christ in all things.
The bible calls everyone of us LIVING STONES

However, there are those in the body of Christ which many times may seem to pose a challenge with their growth. Those to whom you spend a lot of time trying to grow and make committed, but the whole process seem to be producing a very slow result. These stones may become REJECTED. Our fervour in efforts to see to it that they are built might wane, if you do not know or see that in this Rejected Stone is an angel, the head of the corner.

I heard a story of a Michael Angelo who requested once for a stone everybody had rejected. Stunned at his request, he was asked why he wanted the stone and his answer was 'I see an angel in the stone'.

There are no rules to know who among those who seem to be building slowly is actually a CONERSTONE. It is a thing of spiritual sight and passion to see a change in the life of another. It is an ability to see the finished product while it is still raw.

But to bring out the angel in the stone you need patience

I had this friend of mine who I met on the first day she came on campus. I would normally not speak to someone I just saw and didn't know, but unusually, I spoke with her and invited her to church. After that day, I just kept seeing visions about this lady,I saw two lives, one with God and one without God.Passion to see her walk in God's ways stood up in me, it was a fire inside me. Now, the change didn't just happen, it took a long time; 2 years to be precise, but I kept at it. So many gave up on her, I believe nobody believed that anything serious could come out of her for God, but I prayed, I cried, I visited, I taught, I persisted and I won

This lady suddenly made up her mind after almost 2 years to do the things I've been telling her and to give herself to the Word. Today, she is the joy of many an amazement and a testimony on many lips. She sings in the choir, handles a Bible study class and win souls for the Lord.

There are many more like this lady,maybe in the church where you are. It might even be your friend or someone you know and have interest in. My advice to you is DON'T REJECT THAT STONE.