[b]Sharp chiseling![/b](J. R. Miller, "Making the Most of Life" 1891)"I have refined you in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10We were stones in the quarry. When Christ saved uswe were cut from the great mass of rock. But we were yet rough and unshapely; not fit for heaven. Before we can be ready for our place in the heavenly templewe must be hewn and shaped. The hammer must do its workbreaking off the roughnesses. The chisel must be usedcarving and polishing our lives into beauty. This work is done in the many processes of life. Every sinful thing, every fault in our characteris a rough place in the stone, which must be chiseled off. All the crooked lines must be straightened. Our lives must be cut and hewnuntil they conform to the perfect standard of divine truth.Quarry-work is not always pleasant. If stones had hearts and sensibilitiesthey would cry out in sore pain as they feel the hammer strokes and the deep cutting of the chisel. Yet the workman must not heed their cries, and withdraw his hand, else they would at last be thrown aside as worthless blocks, never to be built into the beautiful temple.We are not stones; we have hearts and sensibilities, and we do cry out ofttimes, as the hammer smites away the roughnesses in our character! But we must yield to the painful work and let it go on, or we shall never have our place as living stones in Christ's beautiful temple. We must not wince under the sharp chiseling of sorrow and affliction."I have refined you in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10
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