petrified

We're all familiar with the term "petrified".  I think we usually use it to describe a extreme case of fear.  My wife recently obtained a chunk of petrified wood that her parents had bought years ago in California.  It is a solid piece of rock that looks just as if it had been cut from a log recently.  It's interesting to consider what happens for a tree to become petrified.  Under certain conditions, silica attaches to the cellulose which is a major ingredient in the cell walls of wood.  After the silica crystallizes, it preseves the microscopic structure of the wood even after the cellulose is gone.*  In a sense, temporary living tissue has been replaced by rock and now the wood has become stone and can last indefinitely.  It makes me think how we trust in the Lord for our salvation and He takes up residence in our lives.  You might say that He is in the process of replacing our short-lived tissue with spiritual rock and long after our bodies are gone our lives will be preserved by the rock of ages.  You might say that to be petrified with Christ means to be delivered from the power of fear rather than paralyzed by it!   1 Peter 2:4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.   blessings, Rob Smith http://2daysthought.blogspot.com/   *thanks to Wikipedia for