Day 5 - February 25th, 2007
Ezra 4:17 – 5:5
Have you ever seen a foundation that’s been completed without a structure being built on top of it? My wife and I saw such a thing in Friday Harbor. It was on property overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, providing a spectacular view of lights, whales, and mountains. There, on a completed foundation, sat weathered wood, corroding pipes, and brittle electrical wire. What happened, that the work that was begun wasn’t finished? Of course, Jesus warns of such a problem in his teachings.
But he’s not talking about church building programs. He’s speaking of the work that is unfolding as we work with God in the building of a temple, a dwelling place for God, in each of our hearts, and in our community. To the extent that we are diligent to partner with God in the completion of such a work, our lives will not only be a dwelling place for God, but blessings will flow out from that temple into our families, our church, and our cities.
The story in Ezra is a physical representation of what happens all too often in our hearts. We begin the work, the walk with God, doing so with zeal and gusto. But along the way, things get difficult. There are setbacks; opposition even. And so we stop.
That’s why we need each other. At just the right time (see 5:1) Haggai the prophet comes along and stirs up the people. “The foundation’s been sitting here for 17 years!” he says. “Don’t you think it’s high time you did something with it?” People had checked out, surrendered to status quo, and as a result were missing their calling. But thank God, there was someone there to stir things up.
The Bible says that we need one another as a means of ‘provoking one another to good works’. That’s why I’m so grateful to be in community. At those moments when I’m discouraged, it seems that there’s often a needed word of encouragement that comes my way. When I’m being lazy and disengaged, there’s a word of truth for me that comes, often from unlikely sources, at just the right time. The Bible encourages us to spur each other on because God knows that when the going gets tough, most of us will take ourselves out of the game, allowing our lives to mutate into something far less than that which God has in mind. In spite of the trials, and the anti-momentum that draws us all towards inertia, it’s vital to keep building the temple which is our heart – and enourage others to do the same.
As you’re praying today, think of areas in your own life where the work of construction has stopped. Are you not letting God build His temple in your finances? Your sexuality? Your relationships? Offer a prayer of consecration, and let the rebuilding begin once again. Now pray for someone you know who is need of starting the work of construction once again.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home