The Gem Cutter

Have you ever seen a gem cutter at work? I have a friend who is a gem cutter. Once, I had the opportunity to visit his workshop and admire his artwork.

When I entered his showroom, a new world opened for me.

I saw showcases beautifully decorated with precious stones, gemstones such as jasper, sapphire, topaz, amethyst, lapis lazuli, and many more.

They were different shapes and sizes, and some had very costly settings of gold, platinum, or other precious metals. The light in the showcase made the stones shine at their best. It was incredible. We talked about the unique characteristics of the gems, where they could be found, and how they are brought to light. Then I asked him to show me what an unprocessed gemstone looked like. We went to his workshop, and I noticed an immediate difference between the two rooms. The workshop was nothing special, just a normal workshop full of dust and dirt. Here, everything looked so common. There were shelves with lots of boxes filled with stones and rough pieces of rock. They were gray, angular, ugly, without any beauty.

I was a bit disappointed. He took a stone out of a box. I still did not see anything special in the stone. Then he began to work on it.

Carefully, he cut the stone, carved from one side, polished another, and cut some more here and there. It seemed to me as if there was no plan whatsoever in his actions. But as I watched, the ugly, irregular rock transformed into a beautiful gemstone.

It was amazing! And then it suddenly dawned on me: God, the master artist and gem cutter, cuts, shapes, and polishes. He does not see the ugly rock, the stone without any value. No! He sees the perfect gemstone He is gently cutting and polishing.

He sees that one day I will be in the showcase. We look at our shortcomings, blind spots, weaknesses, anxieties, and unholiness, but God sees the gem transformed by His touch. We are still living in the gem cutter’s dusty workshop, waiting for the day when Jesus returns, “in that day when I make up my jewels” (Malachi 3:17, KJV).

Then, in His glorious showroom, we will shine as His precious jewels forever!

Dagmar Dorn