Secure Settings

I work with stone settings almost daily at The Karat Patch in Big Spring, Texas. Stone settings come in an array of different metals, sizes, shapes, heights, and weights and are made to fit stones of all types and of every value. In my 27 year career I have set some very expensive stones, some valued at over $100,000.00 that went into the same type of setting in which stones costing $10.00 could go. But no matter what the value of the stone, the setting must hold that stone securely so that it will not be lost. Folks who have spent a lot of money for their stone can be especially particular about the setting in which it will be placed. Security is not the only criteria about which they are concerned but it is certainly the most important. Every setting has some kind of finger-like posts (called prongs) that are prepared and then bent over the top edge of the stone to hold that stone in place once it is in the setting. Generally speaking, once the stone is in the setting and secured, there's not much to worry about.

Often times the experience I have is that of a customer who comes in having lost a precious gem from a setting, and then having found it. Their thrill and exuberance in finding that which was lost is apparent as soon as they walk in the door. With the precious stone found, they can purchase a new setting, one that is safe and secure.

Sometimes when I am setting stones and making sure that they're secure, I think about how much the hand of Jesus Christ is like that stone setting and how we are like that precious stone. In Luke 19:10 Jesus says "the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost".

The 'what was lost' is me and you.

We've been lost out of our original setting. Our original setting was with God, in complete communion, in a beautiful garden. Then sin caused us to fall away from that relationship. We are precious gems that need a new setting. Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost. He chose to look for us because we are precious and valuable to Him. And once found, He chose to save us, and secure us precious gems by purchasing a new setting for us with His blood...a very high price indeed. And then Jesus puts us in the palm of His nail-scarred hand, bends His fingers in over us and holds us there securely (John 6:39) until He raises us up on the last day. The security of this new setting will know no end for those who put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ.


Secure settings are good for precious gems of all kinds. And there's no setting more secure than the hand of Jesus.

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