Hard Rock Mining

Reading: Zechariah 9-11

“The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. How attractive and beautiful they will be!” (Zechariah 9:16, 17a, NIV).

I come from mining country and though I have never worked underground (or on the surface for that matter), I have been on enough tours of the mining operations in our area to appreciate that you simply don’t walk in and grab a gold bar and walk out again. You have to move a ton of rock to get a bit of gold. The physical effort and danger involved in hard rock mining just to produce a few ounces of gold is incredible.

To the north of us diamond mines are being developed. Like gold, miners don’t just walk in and grab a few relatives of the Hope Diamond, sparkling and pure, from the ground. Gold, diamonds, and all other precious metals and jewels, are produced at tremendous expense and sacrifice.

God redeemed His “jewels” at tremendous cost to Himself. The diamonds that He paid for are truly “blood diamonds,” purchased by the sacrifice of His own Son. In spite of the cost, Zechariah tells us that He holds the “jewels” produced by the sacrifice in His hand and appreciates every unique one of them.

As I read these words this morning the old hymn written by William Cushing came immediately to mind.

WHEN HE COMETH

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. 

Like the stars of the morning

His bright crown adorning,

They shall shine in their beauty,

Bright gems for His crown.

Little children, little children,

Who love their Redeemer,

Are the 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.

Our women’s group just finished an extended weekend of outreach to our community. We invested time, money and a whole lot of energy into this project. I’m tired. Was it worth it? I don’t know yet, and I may never know on this side of eternity. But if, from all this sacrifice and effort, one “jewel” for the Lord is the result, it will have been worth all the “hard rock mining” it took.

In the end, our sacrifices are nothing compared to the ones God already made.