A Prescription for Contentment

"Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich;

having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

2 Corinthians 6:10

I love for my wedding ring to shine. About once a week, I ask my friend who gets me up to use my toothpaste and toothbrush to scrub my ring. Real gold and diamonds can take a good scrubbing; they're not as delicate as we think. And when they're polished, my, they look lovely!

Malachi 3:16, 17 talks about how the Lord has a Book of Remembrance in which the names of all those who meditate on Him, who think about His name, are written down. He calls these people His jewels. How do we become jewels that gleam and shine in His sight? He says, "I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God'" (Zech. 13:9).

Oh, that's what I want to be: a jewel that shines in His sight, a jewel that doesn't mind a good polishing now and then. I'm not as delicate as some people think, especially when God's grace sustains me.

Maybe you feel as if someone has taken a gigantic toothbrush and is scrubbing your soul raw. It hurts. And you wince at the pain, the disappointment. But take heart, there's a purpose.

Let me remind you: You're not as delicate as you think. You, as a believer, are a jewel, someone very precious to God. You're a diamond, you're silver, and you're gold. He promises that, as His jewel, He's going to shine you up. As silver is refined and as gold is tried, He will polish you bright so that everyone will see you're a jewel.

Lord, help me to bring a willing spirit to You, one prepared to be polished, even when it hurts. I want to be Your jewel.

Taken from More Precious Than Silver. Copyright © 1998 by Joni Eareckson Tada. Used by permission. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530