Precious Jewels

A friend and I enjoy making some of our own jewelry.  Especially trending now is to use different gauge and colors of leather, instead of wire, to string precious stones in creative patterns.  It is very satisfying to make a wrap bracelet and earrings to match a necklace.  I just finished making a necklace using green and yellow Roman glass together with small imperfect pearls.  My friend just made a lovely necklace using beautiful teal matte stones and sea glass.  Though both of us really have more jewelry than we can wear, trying new stones and combination of patterns is intriguing. 

The selection of stones is amazing.  We can choose all sizes of Biwa pearls from Japan, for example.  Though the Japanese prefer the perfect pearls, I think the odd shape and deformity adds to their beauty, as well as to many other kinds of pearls.  In addition, there are all shapes, sizes and finishes of aquamarine, jade, turquoise, lapis, carnelian, coral, agate, blue topaz, red jasper, onyx, pink rhodochrosite and black and pink rhodonite to name a few.  Some stones are drilled with big holes and others have small holes so there are endless possible creations to enjoy and treasure.

In the same way, we should have a similar feeling of “treasure” when we open and read the truths of the Bible.  Proverbs 3:13-15 says “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.  She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her”.

“Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel” (Proverbs 20:15). “Choose My instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her” (Proverbs  8:11).  Isaiah 61:10 says “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.”

Speaking of godly style and grace, God’s word is clear and explicate.  “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God” (I Timothy 2:9-10).  I Peter 3:3-5, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.” 

“A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies” (Proverbs 31:10).   When we meditate on the words in the verses above, the instruction of a godly father and the teaching of a godly mother, God’s word “becomes a graceful garland on your head and a chain around your neck”.  (Proverbs 1:9).  Clearly, the Lord approves of outward beauty and adorning with lovely jewels since He created such a vast variety, however, it must be measured with modesty and purpose. 

But to me, most exciting is the amazing description of Heaven and what believers will see and inherit as we read in Revelation 21:15-21.  An angel is measuring the city of New Jerusalem with a rod of gold; its gates and its walls.  The city is laid out like a square.  “The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.  The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.  The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.   The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.  The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass”.  Can we even imagine such beauty and magnificence?  Psalm 119:72 says “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver”.

This old children’s song just came to my mind:
When He cometh, when He cometh, To make up His jewels. All His jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning, His bright crown adorning. They shall shine in their beauty. Bright gems for His crown.

He will gather, He will gather, The gems for His kingdom. All the pure ones, all the bright ones. His loved and His own.

Little children, little children Who love their Redeemer. Are the jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own.
-William Cushing, 1856

Dear Lord, thank you for Your holy Word and for the amazing and beautiful things you have created for us to enjoy during our earthly journey.  But oh, as Your “jewels”, we eagerly anticipate being able to worship and praise You one day in Heaven.  Our minds cannot even imagine it!