As a teenager, my parents took us on a wonderful trip–two weeks to Yellowstone and back.  Part of the way back was a ride through the Badlands of South Dakota, the last part of the trip before turning south and heading home.  Near the little village of Keystone, stands the magnificent Mt. Rushmore with its likenesses of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.  It’s one of those things that is hard to forget.

One of the questions that you have to ask is:  How could this have been accomplished?  It’s a really good question because it took the sculpture Gutzon Borglum fourteen years to complete.  From 1927 to 1941, Borglum directed over 400 workers.  In a studio at the base of the mountain he had constructed a plaster cast of the great work.  The eccentric artist chipped away at the great mountain until the four great presidential images emerged.

When you go through the museum at the base of the mountain, the way that the monument was created is almost as spectacular as the mountain itself.  It’s much like what God does with us.  He is carving us into the image of Christ.  This is His goal:  For us to be conformed to the image of His dear Son (Romans 8:29). 

God works in our lives, sometimes removing large boulders, sometimes simply chipping away at some areas but always working to make us holy.