A ROCK IS A ROCK IS A ROCK!

I think we'll all agree that a rock is a rock.  Whether it is a boulder like this one in the picture, a rock like the one in front of the boulder or a pebble lying on the side of the boulder, their all rocks, just different sizes.  They are all made of basically the same material.  They can all do damage when thrown and they will weigh us down if we carry them for long.  

I remember going on vacation with my parents, my mom had a rock fetish (she still does).  Everywhere we traveled, whether we had been there before or not, she always asked my dad to pull over so she could pick up a rock.  She lined her flower beds with them and also keep them as mementos.  "That was the time we went to Florida" or "That was when we were at the Grand Canyon."  Growing up I was able to travel a lot with my parents and she collected many, many rocks over the years.

Rocks are one of those things that can be very deceiving.  They can look beautiful on the outside, but you bust them open and they are ugly.  Or they look hideous on the outside, yet you crack them open and they are filled with beauty.  Either way you look at it, rocks are deceiving.  

Think of all the beauty rocks can hide.  Diamonds, gold and silver and other precious gems can be hidden underneath and around rocks.  Mines are full of these and men have sacrificed their lives to remove the rocks in order to find that precious gem.  Miners have risked their lives to find coal so we can heat our homes in the winter.  Men and women has chiseled and hammered and pounded and jack hammered their way through rock in order to find the treasure buried beneath the rocks. 

Rocks weigh us down and make our journey so much harder.  We point at other peoples rocks they are carrying and we judge them because their rock is bigger than ours.  We feel better about ourselves because our rock is much smaller and our load is much lighter than that person over there.  Some of us carry our rocks as trophies, yea it may be heavy but we can carry it, look at how strong we are.  Some of us carry our stones around like a burden, always whining and complaining about it, but never doing anything about it.  Some of us attach our stone to a chain and drag it around by our ankles overcome with anguish because of the prison we are in.  Some of us are so busy judging other peoples rocks that we rarely feel the weight of all the pebbles weighing down our pockets.

John 8:7  And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

If a rock was sin, how big would your rock be?  Would it be a boulder?  Or maybe just a small pebble?  Let me be brutally honest here.  Whether your sin is big or small, it is still a sin.   Size doesn't matter to God.  Big or small, a sin is a sin is a sin.  And be honest here, we ALL sin!  There is not one righteous man on earth today!  We may think we are sinless but we are fooling ourselves.  

My sin has weighed me down for years.  My attitude of  "I'll do it my way."  and "Nobody"s gonna tell me what to do or how to do it" has propelled me down a path a still fight to this day.  That's just for starters.  I could write a book, hey maybe I will, no never mind.  Anyway I may have never committed one of the top 10, okay maybe I did?  Did I always honor my mom and dad?  No!  Did I always honor the sabbath?  No!  Did I ever use God's name in vain?  Yes!  Okay maybe I did commit some of the top 10 "big" sins, but trust me I am not alone, am I?

Listen we all sin and fall short.   It's not right for us to point our fingers at someone whose rock is bigger than ours.  It's not right for us to judge someone else's sins!  That's God's job, not ours.  Instead maybe we should come along side them and love them just where they are.  After all isn't that what Jesus did?  He didn't point His finger at Mary Magdalene, and He could have because He was without sin.  He was the only one in the group who could have righteously thrown a stone at her for her sin, but He didn't.  He just loved her, right where she was, and that my friends, changer her life. 

So next time we feel propelled to finger point and judge, reach in your pocket and deal with all those little pebbles you have hidden away for years.  

Lord, forgive me for ever judging someone else's sin when my own weighs me down.  Today I chose to point the finger at myself and deal with my own sins.  Forgive me Lord even though I don't deserve it.  Help me to love those whose rocks are bigger and more burdensome, in Jesus name I pray, amen.