REBUILT
Today's reading:  Isaiah 51-55

"...I will rebuild you with precious jewels and make your foundations from lapis lazuli."  Isaiah 54:5 NLT

Considering my profession is working in a lumberyard, verses like this catch my eye.

I had to look it up.  I had to dig deeper.  I had to find out just what God was saying when He spoke these words!

We sell concrete blocks for building foundations.  Gray.  Dull.  Coarse.  Hard.  Nothing fancy.  Plenteous.  Common.

What God says He uses to fix, set or establish His children, lapiz lazuli, is nothing like that.

Lapiz lazuli is a bright blue metallic stone mined from deep within the earth.  It's a prized possession.  It's a brilliant addition to any workman's masterpiece.  It's hard to come by.  It's expensive.  It's highly valued.  It's set apart as ornamentation, not commonality.

It used to be ground and mixed with additives to be used by Renaissance painters.  This special paint was reserved to paint only the dress of the Virgin Mary in portraits.

It has been mined from the bowels of Afghanistan for over 6,000 years and used as a high priced trading commodity.

Lapis lazuli has been mentioned in one of the oldest known pieces of literature on record.

Maybe you've seen it on the funeral mask of a young king, Tut.

And He'll use it like building materials in our foundations?  Like we would concrete?

He must love us!  He must have a greater plan for us than we can think or imagine!  He must consider us to be His prized possessions--because He's sure not sparing any expense!