Blinded By The Light

My dear, sweet husband bought me a beautiful engagement and wedding ring. I enjoy them very much. We were at the mall last week and went by the jewelry store. He suggested that since we were there why not get them cleaned? I said okay, so off we went to the store. Good thing we did. Turns out my diamond was loose. I needed the prongs on my ring tightened. Since Scott had enough forethought to get the lifetime warranty when he bought them, we left the ring to be taken care of. I missed my rings. My finger felt naked. I pulled out my fake, CZ ring and put it on. It was pretty, and to those who didn't know the truth, it seemed like a real diamond ring. But to me it just wasn't the same. I knew the truth. I thought about how my rings were a lot like us as Christians. How many times have I felt like everything was going along as planned, everything in my life looked good....but then God lovingly decides that I need to be cleaned. The world and all it's trappings are making me dirty AGAIN. Sometimes the cleaning bothers me, it makes me frustrated and I miss my old ways. I might even try and fake the change. "God, I'm fine. I'm doing well. Really, I promise. See, I can still shine." God, because He is God, sees right through me. There is no fooling God. "No, Dawn you need to be fixed up. The world is wearing you down. I love you enough to take care of you. This might hurt a bit, but trust me. After you spend time with Me you will truly shine." After spending time with the Lord I am made new. It is the real thing. Other people notice something is different. God is so good.

I got my rings back last night. The diamond was sitting nicely in the tightened prongs. My rings had been shined and polished. I was nearly blinded by the brilliance of the light bouncing off the diamonds. They were beautiful. I put my fake CZ back in my purse. I didn't need it anymore, because now I had the real thing.