The Angel in the Stone:
Taking Off the Old
Taking Off the Old
"While most artists create by adding to something, a sculptor creates by taking away. Michelangelo himself said, 'I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.' To Michelangelo, every conceivable creation lay within the confines of a block of marble; he only had to take away the excess--in all the right places, of course...This is much how I envision the idea of taking off the old self, which Paul speaks of in Colossians 2:11....In essence, the truth presented in [this verse] grants us the chisel to start chipping away...the power to begin the sanctification process....When we strive for holiness, it can be our propensity to whip out our carving tools and start tapping our hammers somewhat aimlessly, hoping we'll discover something truly magnificent even if accidentally. But before we start chiseling, we have to know what must be chipped away so we can eventually get to the angel in the stone. In the New Testament, we see a lot of specific things that God lovingly forbids listed; many of them appear in Colossians...The Bible gives us clarity for what ungodly characteristics we should remove from our lives, convicting us of things that are not always so obvious....you can't have an exquisite sculpture without first knocking off all the pieces of stone that don't belong."
~From Chapter Five of, The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ, by Kelly Minter~
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"As the sculptor devotes himself to wood and stone,
I would devote myself to my soul."
~Toyohiko Kagawa~
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"As the sculptor devotes himself to wood and stone,
I would devote myself to my soul."
~Toyohiko Kagawa~
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