Doorstop of Gold

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes”?’” [Matthew 21:42]

One Sunday in 1799, Conrad Reed, the 12-year-old son of a German immigrant, was playing hooky from church. While fishing with his siblings in a creek on his father’s farm, he spotted an interesting object in the creek – “a yellow substance shining in the water” – and decided to lug it home. The 17-pound rock, about the shape and size of an iron, was actually a gold nugget. Because of its unusual weight, the family used the huge nugget as a doorstop for three years.

Then in 1802, Conrad’s father, John Reed, took the nugget to a jeweler in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The jeweler told Reed that they had been tripping over a hunk of gold for the last three years and offered to refine it for him. When Reed returned, the jeweler had turned the 17-pound nugget into a gold bar six or eight inches long. The jeweler offered to buy it, allowing Reed to name the price. Still not realizing the value of the gold, Reed sold it to the jeweler for a mere $3.50. Of course, the gold was actually worth a thousand times that modest sum.

The Bible teaches that millions of others have tripped over a priceless gem as well, unaware of the riches within their reach. For example, Jewish tradition says that when Solomon’s temple was built, the cornerstone, or capstone, was pushed aside unrecognized. When it was finally needed, the builders sent word to the masons asking for it, only to find it had already been delivered. When the chief priests and Jewish elders challenged Jesus’ authority, He reminded them of this story: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). Though rejected by the Jewish leaders, Jesus is the cornerstone on which the Christian church was built – He is the only way to obtain salvation!

Thankfully, John Reed’s story still has a happy ending – he eventually mined the rest of the creek bed on his farm and became a very wealthy man. When we recognize the riches of salvation that are available to us in Christ Jesus, our story can have a happy ending as well!