You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood (I Peter 2:5).

Last night after we had turned out our bedside lights, my husband and I discovered simultaneously that we each had a jagged edge on one of our fingernails. Quickly we turned on our lights and used nail files to smooth away the source of our irritation.

This incident seemed symbolic to me because I had just been reading a book that referred to the “jagged edges” which keep us as believers from being built together with other believers to become a place where God dwells. The book stressed how quickly we blame others if we feel that we don’t “fit in” with a group of Christians, rather than asking God to show us what might be in us that is causing the problem.

God did not call us to walk with Him isolated from everyone who irritates or offends us. If we will surrender to the “filing” of God’s Spirit through other believers rather than continuing our search for the perfect fit, our jagged edges will be smoothed away. This prepares us so that God can build us into a spiritual house to fulfill the purposes of His Kingdom.

Heavenly Father, help us to submit to the process of becoming a usable living stone. Amen.

(Devotional adapted from Homespun Faith, Reflections from the Seasons of Life, copyright 2014 Daisy Beiler Townsend. Available as paperback or e-book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Xulon Press. There are Links on this website on the Where to Buy Homespun Faith and Sarah’s Legacy page. Locally at Fresh Grounds, M & M Grocery, Penn Alps in Grantsville, Maryland, or from me 724-373-8445.)