Perfecting

1 Kings 6:7

And the house, when it was being built, was built of finished stone, cut at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor ax nor any iron tool was heard in the house when it was being built.

Finished Stones 

The stones used for the building of the temple were all "finished stones". The finished stones have all been mined from where they were, perhaps, in a mountain or a valley or a plain or on the bank of a river. They were brought to the quarry where all works of breaking, cutting into a perfect shape for the building took place. There, in the mines and in the quarry, hammer, axe, and iron tools were used to work on the stones to bring it to perfection. Then and only then, they were brought to the site of the temple and were perfectly framed and fitted together, thereby becoming part of the temple. This is a perfect picture of perfecting for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church.

Quarry

According to the Bible, we were made of clay, however, through regeneration and transformation, we become stones for God's building. The significant part is the quarry where the mined stones were processed to perfection.

The Lord has picked us from various backgrounds. Now, wherever He has placed us, He is also perfecting us. Perhaps, at home with wive and children, at the office with colleagues and staffs, in the local church with the saints and new ones. All the happenings in our circumstances are all for the perfecting of us to be the finished stones so that we can be fitly framed into the building of God. 

No Sound

In the site of the building, no noise nor sound was heard. The finished stones were perfectly fitted in their rightful position and there is no adjustment done here. All complaining and murmuring were dealt with at the "quarry" of our Christian life. Only after all the dealings, the finished stones were brought for the actual building of the temple. Therefore, in the proper building of the church, there is no room for "noises and sounds" as the finished stones perfectly fit into one another at their appointed position and function.

What a revelation of the building work is this!

The point at hand now is, as a piece of stone, where are you? At the mine, or at the quarry, or have you been perfected to fit into the building of God’s house at the site of the temple? Consider and know where you are. Perhaps, still in the quarry, as this is the most likely place where we all are right now. All the sound of cutting by hammer, ax, and iron tools proves we are still at the quarry and yet to be perfectly finished.

I confess and acknowledge that I am still in the quarry. The sound of cutting is still clanking within me even if I have started learning to calm down outwardly. The Master Builder is faithfully working on me day and night, cutting and shaping me as He deems best. And I fully open and submit to the Master's faithful hands operating on me, as a Surgeon operates on the patient. Only the Master knows how longer He has to work on me. For His perfecting work, I fully give myself to His wise hands.

Lord, perfect me for Thy building.