My family and I were vacationing in Maine this past summer and spent a lot of time at tidal beaches where the kids could play. With eleven foot tides, the beach is much different than what I am used to. For half the day, the beaches are wet sand and for the other half, they are covered with up to eleven feet of water. Also interesting, is the various sundry of rocks that cover the ocean floor, and are exposed when the tides are out. Maine is a glacial moraine. This means that toward the end of the Ice Age, much of Maine was covered by glaciers that had traveled southward across Canada. As the glacier melted, it left stones, sand and debris, from throughout the northern part of the globe. Many were worn smooth by glaciation, and all were different colors, shapes and sizes. My dad was an earth-science teacher and loves to "read" the stories in the rocks; where they are from, or how they came to look the way they do.
Of particular interest to me were the rocks that contained a large amount of iron in them. Not only were they rust red in color, but they were much heavier than all the other rocks on the beach.
1 Peter 2:4,5
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We are stones. But I think this verse points out that we are not just the smooth stones that make up the majority of the rocky tidal beaches, we are the stones laden with ore - the heaviest stones. We are "chosen and precious". The older I get, the more I need to remember that I carry more weight in my influence of others. High school students carry weight with middle school and elementary, college students carry weight with high, middle and elementary and even begin to carry weight with those older than themselves, and this trend continues until life ends.
My actions are watched by those who see me as a "heavy stone". My opinions are valued in the same way, and my decisions effect more and more people. While this can be exciting, it is also humbling. My choices, and passions must be kept in check, for the benefit of my own spiritual health, as well as those in my sphere of influence. The stone that is my life continues to have more and more weight on other people - their lives, their decisions etc. Am I using that weight to build others up and serve so that in serving, others may do likewise because of my influence? Or am I piling my weight on others as I stay immature in my faith, and always expect those around me to serve my needs. A child has many needs, but they are also "lighter stones". We no longer have that luxury as we get older.
It is also humbling to know that as our weight increases, so does the burden we are continually stacking onto the cornerstone which is Christ. It is what Jesus has told us to do, and we are right in giving him our stones, but we need to remember the price that he had to pay for us to be able to do so.
Today - remember the weight you carry. Recognize the influence you have and embrace it. New students are moving into the dorms, new freshman are walking onto high school campuses for the first time, and all of them need a place to put some of their weight. Go out of your way to serve them, and just see what happens in your own life as you do.
This post was a good reminder that there's a lot of people who I influence whether I realize it or not. As a high schooler, when you were 23 and single I thought you were old! Even though I still feel like a college student sometimes, the fact is I'm 29 and married and running an organization, so younger people are looking to me for an example. I need to live my life realizing that people are watching and represent Christ well.
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