Chiseled

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The city of Petra is an engineering marvel.  Chiseled out of rock, and labored on for many years, it is inspirational.  Many moviegoers are familiar with the treasury building of Petra, which was featured in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  It dates back thousands of years to a time before Christ.
 

The city of Petra is not mentioned in the Bible by that name; rather, it is called by its Hebrew name Sela, also meaning "rock", an appropriate name, since much of the cit is carved into sandstone cliffs.  Petra is located about fifty miles south of the Dead Sea so Jesus would have had knowledge of Petra.
 

This city came about by chiseling one chipaway at a time...one chip here...one chip there; chisel chip after chisel chip.  Can you imagine?
 

A chisel is a lifeless piece of steel, but controlled by the hand of a master sculptor, it can produce wondrous works; the Statue of David by Michelangelo, the Great Sphinx, the Lincoln Memorial, or Thinker in Paris.

God is also chiseling "We are his workmanship..." Ephesians 2:10. He is knocking off the rough edges and chipping away at anything unneeded in order to reveal the masterpiece he wants us to become. We all have areas that need chipped off. Don't fear his work in you. Don't curse the cut of the chisel. Embrace the clanging of the hammer. With each strike, more and more of who we are to become is being revealed. We all, by the hand of the master sculptor, are becoming a wondrous work.

Ron Otto, Preaching Minister at Lincoln Chritian Church.