Galatians 1:8

The writer Haddon Robinson tells the story about a boy in China who wanted to learn all about the precious gemstone, jade. And so he went to study under a gentle old man who knew all there was to know about jade. The first thing the old man did was to place a piece of jade into the boy's hand and tell him to hold it tight. Then the old man proceeded to talk about everything under the sun; everything except jade. After an hour of this, he took the gem back and told the boy to go home.

This routine went on for weeks—the boy holding the piece of jade in his hand, the old man talking about everything but jade. Understandably, the boy became frustrated. "When is my teacher going to start talking about jade?" he thought. Then one day, when the old man put a common stone into his hand, the boy cried out instinctively, "That's not jade!"

The old man's wisdom was clear. He didn't want that boy to sit and listen to someone talk about jade. He wanted that boy to know for himself what jade was, and to know it so well that he could instantly recognize a fake.

In my sinful weakness, I can often fall into the habit of simply talking about the gospel—taking pride in my ability to rattle off a boilerplate description. In doing so, however, I can become dull to the precious gem that the gospel really is.

Only when the Word of God cuts me to the heart about the seriousness of my sin, and only when that same Word heals me with the promise of full forgiveness in Jesus—only then do I begin to know the real gem of the gospel.

Then I can be like that boy. If someone puts a fake in my hand, I can cry out, "That's not the gospel!" I can do so because I already know the real gem.