Petrified

Another early morning….dark and cold, my phone says -2° outside. Winter is not leaving easily from New York. Beneath the cold, dark surface lays life….waiting to wake from its slumber. This weekend is Daylight Savings and the clocks will “spring” ahead an hour. So it will once again be dark in morning, “my time” but that is ok, I am finding new peace in getting up in the dark. This morning I lit two candles and watched the light flicker. I thought, “I should have one more. The “Trinity” would be represented – God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But then I looked beside the candles and saw my piece of petrified rock from my travels in Africa. And again I heard the Lord Say, “this is a proper representation of us, Jesus came in the flesh. He is the cornerstone.” In 1 Peter 2:6-7, “For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.'”So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.'”
I love how the Lord uses his creation to create pictures! It reminds me that God is light, the Father and the Holy Spirit are immeasurable, infinite, intangible while the Son, Jesus, was made matter! When you think about it, “What is petrified wood anyway and how does it form?” So the scientist geek in me started my early morning search. Here is what I found: petrified wood is considered a fossil whereby the organic remains have been replaced by minerals in the slow process of being replaced by stone. “Special rare conditions” must be met to facilitate this process. This plant matter gets buried in an environment free from oxygen (anaerobic) which preserves the original structure and appearance of the organic matter. Other conditions must be met as well, regular access to rich mineral water which is in contact with the tissues; inorganic minerals replace the organic structure! The end result is petrified wood, which was organic (decayable matter) but has now been permanently preserved by being replaced by stone. Can you not see?? Jesus came to earth as matter, flesh, organic human form which decays! He was put in a tomb and sealed! Airless and sealed off (anaerobic). His physical matter did not decay! He had access to the “The” rich mineral waters of the Father. John 4:14, “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” There are tons of scripture on “living water”. So much one could extract from this! Jesus was separated from the Father on the cross to take on our sins, but now through His death, He was reunited with the Father and the “rich mineral waters” of the Father were flowing in Him. They were “in contact with His tissues”; The end result was Stone! The cornerstone! The foundation of the church. Even the holes in his hands were preserved! John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
A new meaning to the “BELIEVE” signs in stores everywhere. What do you believe?