Who do we admire? ---part 2

The following is a devo I wrote back in Septmeber for a Ladies Night Out. It is the second installment on Who do we admire? This is what I mentioned in part 1 when I stated God wanted me to showcase one of my many talents.

Women as Jewels
By liz gibbs

What is a jewel? Wordreference.com gives us two definitions.
1) A precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry and 2) a person who is as brilliant and precious as that piece of jewelry.

We will gain a little information about the first and gain a little insight into the second.
We begin our study of jewels with the most organized of jewels systems - the monthly birthstones.

The birthstone tradition can be traced back to the first century. The stones were used in the breastplates of Jewish High Priests. There were 12 stones in the breastplates, which symbolized the 12 tribes of Israel. Each stone was dedicated to one of the 12 months.

Exodus 28:15-19
Fashion a breastplate for making decisions -- the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square -- a span long and a span wide -- and fold double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl; in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; in the third row a jacinth, an agate, and amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons, of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

It is believed that each tribe related to a month as follows:
December -- Manasseh January -- Benjamin February -- Dan March -- Asher
April -- Naphtali May -- Judah June -- Issachar July -- Zebulon
August -- Reuben September -- Simeon October -- Gad November -- Ephraim

We will focus on September since today, September 19, is the start of out time together, which is represented by the jewel sapphire and the tribe of Simeon. Simeon was the second son born to Leah. The tribe of Simeon was one of the 6 tribes charged to stand upon Mount Gerizim the Mountain of Blessing.

Each birthstone has characteristics that define those born to the month of the stone. Those characteristics of the sapphire are patience, confidence, happiness, and loyalty. It denotes stability and harmony. Estee lauder, Agatha Christie, Lily Tomlin, Grandma Moses, and Ann Bancroft were just a few women borned in September. These women were mentioned because they were famous actresses, writers and businesswomen. Which brings up a question? Remembering the second defintion of jewel, which is a person who is as brilliant and precious as a piece of jewelry. Does a woman have to be famous to be a jewel? The answer can be found in Proverbs 31: 10-31.

Most of the women of the world are not famous. They are normal everyday people who work and live average lives yet every one are jewels and treasures. Every woman has the ability to be as treasured as the jewels of any crown. Her talent could be teaching the children. She could be a wonderful cook. She could be creative, giving, and/or loving. She could be a good listener. She could give of her time. She is a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend. She works both outside the home making a living and inside the house making it a home. She is a Christian.

I would like to close with a few thoughts from a book God Called A Girl about a woman who started out just a girl of about sixteen but became a great jewel, Mary, mother of Jesus.

Mary wasn't a beauty queen like Esther or a widow like Ruth. Some would probably even say Mary was just a small-town girl. There was nothing significant about her until the moment the angel of the Lord stepped on the scene. When Mary was born there was no earthquake, no lightning bolt, no angels blaring trumpets announcing that the world would one day be changed by this simple girl. She was from Nazareth. If there was a nowhere, Nazareth was in the middle of it.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross stated that: Women are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

In closing, the book God Called A Girl also noted:
Although God called many great men of faith to incredible tasks in the pasts, there came a time when a man would not do. So .... God called a girl. And that girl changed the world. That same God is calling again, and this time He's calling you. Are you willing to step forward and answer the call?

Are you willing to be someone's jewel?

My prayer: I would like to thank you, Lord, for all the jewels in our lives and the jewels reading this. I ask for your blessings on all women that we recognize what makes us jewels. Be with us that we continue to grow in your word and in your love to become jewels to those we touch.

Hope everyone enjoys and benefits from this post.

In Him
---liz