“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house,” - 1 Peter 2:5
An opal stone comes in a variety of hues - black, white, orange, navy and green to name a few. Although their color may vary, they are all shot through with iridescent swirls that attract attention and mesmerize gem lovers like me. Opals are not found in large veins like many precious stones. Small clusters of gem-quality opal material may be scattered over a large area of miles in each direction. A fine gem quality opal is more rare than rubies and emeralds. It is a more natural gem, and is of brilliant beauty and obvious worth, even in its natural state. My favorite aspect about them is that opals are considered to be living stones.
Opals contain 3% to 10% water. They form in the cleft of almost any rock, but mostly in rocks such as limonite, sandstone and rhyolite. Fine-grained impurities determine their base color. Light deflecting through opals hits hard, transparent silica spheres, producing the luminous rainbow colors. Depending on the size of the spheres, varying colours of the spectrum are diffracted. So, it is a combination of deflection (bending) and diffraction (breaking up) of light rays that creates the colour in the opal. The orderliness of these spheres separates precious from common opals.
Opals must be protected from heat and detergents that "dry" the gem. Heat treatment is catastrophic!! In addition to cracking, loss of water in the stone causes loss of their brilliant iridescence. Jewelers encourage opal owners to soak this brilliant stone in mineral oil to retain its sparkle.
Many biologists believe that all stones are living, and they have done tests that suggest that stones actually breath, have a heartbeat and move. Marianna Anisosyan, a therapist and expert in biological energy, believes, “Stones undoubtedly possess energy too. Every stone carries a certain amount of life in it.” You already know where I’m going with this analogy, don’t you?
This gives so much more meaning to Luke 19:40, “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” God has a back-up plan. If we fail to praise His name, the stones will cry out in our place. I don’t want any stone praising God in my stead. I plan to praise Him every moment of every day, as well as with my dying breath.
The opal is a lovely type of the Church. 1 Peter 2:5 refers to Christians, as living stones. We can take a lesson from the delicate opal and relate it to our Christian walk. True, authentic Believers are not found grouped together, but scattered all over the world. God forms us in the cleft of our Rock, Jesus Christ. We thrive on the water of God’s Word. Fine-grained impurities in our carnal nature make us uniquely human for God to use for His glory. As we maintain a God-conscious orderliness in our priorities, we reflect His glory in varying degrees of spirituality. Soaking in the “oil” of His Spirit gives our life the glowing colors of His radiance. God also promises to prevent our life’s circumstances from wavering to extremes of hot or cold, so that we will never crack! (John 16:33)
Prayer:
Thought For The Day:
Opals contain 3% to 10% water. They form in the cleft of almost any rock, but mostly in rocks such as limonite, sandstone and rhyolite. Fine-grained impurities determine their base color. Light deflecting through opals hits hard, transparent silica spheres, producing the luminous rainbow colors. Depending on the size of the spheres, varying colours of the spectrum are diffracted. So, it is a combination of deflection (bending) and diffraction (breaking up) of light rays that creates the colour in the opal. The orderliness of these spheres separates precious from common opals.
Opals must be protected from heat and detergents that "dry" the gem. Heat treatment is catastrophic!! In addition to cracking, loss of water in the stone causes loss of their brilliant iridescence. Jewelers encourage opal owners to soak this brilliant stone in mineral oil to retain its sparkle.
Many biologists believe that all stones are living, and they have done tests that suggest that stones actually breath, have a heartbeat and move. Marianna Anisosyan, a therapist and expert in biological energy, believes, “Stones undoubtedly possess energy too. Every stone carries a certain amount of life in it.” You already know where I’m going with this analogy, don’t you?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, immersed me in Your Spirit, so that my light shines so brightly that men will see my good works and glorify You (Matthew 5:16). Help me to remember to drink from Your Word and to remain hidden in the cleft of My Rock.
Thought For The Day:
The Master Builder only uses living stones.
