God Speaking

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”

(Psalm 127:1)

Just recently I was watching my little grandson playing with his blocks and his various trucks, tractors etc. and I could see he was carefully building some sort of structure so I asked him, “What are you building?” I think he was a bit surprised I did not recognize immediately his masterpiece,  but replied. “I am building a construction site and this is where all the excavators go and this is how the gate opens.”  Already at three years old he wanted to build something that reflected his ideas of how things should look. I began to think of how this was a perfect example of how we all think as humans and how being in control of our own lives assumes great importance as we grow older. I was reminded of the story back in Genesis (Chapter 11) when mankind had this idea to join together to build a building that  would reach to the heavens so that they could make a name for themselves and be in control like God. We haven’t changed much through the centuries!

We use the term “to build” in our everyday speaking and talk about, building relationships,  building one’s confidence, building a community, or in the negative way, empire building, anger building or building up resentment.  When Jesus told the parable about the two builders, he wanted his listeners and us to look closely at what and where we are building in our lives.

In the story (Matthew 7:24 – 27) Jesus describes a foolish man who chooses to build his house in a very unreliable and dangerous place. He chooses shifting sand. The other builder in the story chooses wisely for his house, a solid rock foundation. When storms arise the foolish man’s house is washed away, while the wise man’s house stands firm against any raging gale.

The world’s values are often as shallow as sifting sand and we can be deceived sometimes into trusting them to stand firm for us, forgetting that the only true foundation for us who know and love the Lord, is his word.

We, as believers, are referred to as God’s building;

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:9)

What an incredible privilege to be considered God’s handiwork.

One of the firm ways we can go about building in our own lives is to spend our efforts on building others up. It is so easy to be critical of others, so easy to make that disparaging remark, so easy to refrain from praising another.  When we take these words of Paul to heart, we will truly be part of the team of God’s builders;

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29)

The story of the wise and foolish builders has been made into a rousing children’s Sunday School song and the last chorus is sung with great gusto and a great reminder for us all

So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ.