If rocks could talk, what a story they would tell! The rock upon which Jacob slept (Genesis 28:11) could testify of a God who gives second chances to people who have fallen, cheated and schemed like Jacob. The stone that provided water for Moses and the Israelites (Exodus 17:6) would remind us of a God who provides for our needs in the wilderness of life. The stone upon which the Law of God had been written (Exodus 31: 18) could talk about the love of a God who sought through words written in His own hand to provide His people with an opportunity to respond to His loving act of deliverance. Upon that stone, God was establishing the basis for our relationship with Him throughout the rest of Scripture (i.e., Because I have done this for you, therefore I ask you now to do this in response). Then in 1 Samuel 17: 40, little pebbles that fit into the hand of a shepherd boy could remind us of our God who defeats the giants in our life, no matter how imposing and impossible they seem at first. In the life of Jesus, there are any number of rocks and stones. What would the stones that Satan used to tempt Jesus to turn them into bread (Matthew 4:3) have to say to us? What testimony could they offer as to how Satan tempts us so precisely to the desires of our heart? Yet, in Jesus we see the Word of God giving the strength to resist and not buckle beneath temptation. Then in John 8:7, what story of love and mercy could be told by that one stone held in the hand of Jesus? An angry and self-righteous mob stood ready to throw stones at the head of the adulterous woman. Jesus holds up one stone. “Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone.” One by one they leave until only Jesus and the woman are left. Of what would the stone at Lazarus’ grave testify (John 11:38-44)? 

Then there are the rocks of Palm Sunday. If these rocks could talk, they would remind us that we were created for the praise of God. 

 “‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out’” (Luke 19:40). 

 The religious leaders wanted Jesus to quiet the crowd. Jesus sternly reminds them that the praise of God is not something that can be stilled. You and I were created to praise God and to bring glory to His name. 

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:4-6)
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish