Tag Archives: construction

Obedience

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Brick Window

Brick Window (Photo credit: kevinthoule)

Jordan is a brick layer.  He has been assigned to a certain portion of a great building.  Last week he was told to lay a 60 yard stretch 40 ft tall.  The foreman left him to his work and went to give orders to others.

Today is Monday.  Jordan had been hard at work for a week now.  The foreman came back to that place where Jordan was working and fired him on the spot.  Jordan grabbed his tools and headed off the site.  Looking back at his work, Jordan knew why he had been fired.  Though his work was perfectly done it didn’t match his orders.  Every four feet Jordan had built a window frame into the wall.  Beautiful arched window frames couldn’t keep Jordan on the job.  And his work was about to be torn down.

Obedience retains the good craftsman.  Rebellion fills the soup line.

I’m Sorry for Not Being Sorry

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English: Construction works at a prefabricated...

English: Construction works at a prefabricated house (light-frame construction) Deutsch: Montage eines Fertighauses (Holzrahmenbauweise) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recognize that the posts I write are quite harsh.  And I make no apology for them.  If you think I am far too harsh, consider this.

A man wants to build a skyscraper.  His plans are created and given to the construction team.  They don’t start with the top floor.  But the top floor is always in mind as they dig the foundation trenches.  In the same way, if we consider God’s demands for man, we can’t hope to reach what He commands us to be if we don’t keep the ultimate obedience in mind.

Today we see millions of people living life to the demands of man.  And we see the “fruit” of their efforts dwindle into complete rebellion, selfishness, wickedness, and depravity.  It all has to do with the focus each of us gives to the purity of God’s commands to us.

What if the construction team only focused on the foundation and never considered how tall this building would be?  Wouldn’t the finished construction be delayed, or maybe the building might never be completed!  Isn’t this what we get in our lives when we don’t keep our focus on the finished product of our lives?

We are encouraged to look to Jesus constantly.  He is the author and perfector of our faith.  And if we take our eyes off Him, replacing His perfection with that of man, we will never complete what He desires us to become.

I’m not sorry for being harsh in my writings.  And I don’t want you to think that I am a perfect man.  I am less than anyone who would read these words.  It’s just that truth demands center seat in any gathering of students.  And I won’t allow anything to sit there that gives us the illusion that we can live with less than Jesus’ commands.

 

The Pain We’ll Never Know

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Build a house on your property.  Build it to your own dreams.  All the windows just the right size and pointing to just the view you had in mind.  You used the certain cedar you wanted, and the house smells Wonderful!  When you walk from one end to the other, there is nothing about this house that doesn’t meet your joy.  All your dreams and hopes are finally come to fruit.  It’s a beautiful place and you’re perfectly happy with what you’ve accomplished.

Now it’s time to invite your loved ones to come see it.  When they arrive they too are astounded at the beauty of the place.  There is a great joy because you finally get what you’ve dreamed about for so very long.  After a joyous celebration in the back yard, and many trips from your friends into and around the house to marvel at what your hands made, the guests filter home.  You are left alone in silence with your wonderful peaceful accomplishment.  And, finally, you’re happy.  To bed you go.  Your first night’s sleep in your dream house.  Oh it’s not possible to explain the joy you feel.

You wake up the next morning and stare at the intricate hand work of your bedroom.  “Beautiful”, you sigh.  After getting dressed and enjoying that exquisite view out your bedroom window, you skip down the stairs to make a pot of coffee.  “What’s that smell?”  It’s not cedar.  There’s an odor you can’t identify.  At first it’s so unexpected to your senses you think it’s a sweet smell.  But a second whiff and you realize it’s such a foul smell that your brain couldn’t identify it.  “Wow, that’s nasty”, you think to yourself.  But you just can’t find the source.  Something’s wrong with your dream house and you can’t find it.

Weeks have passed and your dreams have become shattered by that smell.  Now a green fungus has begone growing on the walls.  At first you thought it was just a dust.  You’ve worked at it for a while now and made no progress.  You took it on the chin at first.  Thinking to yourself, “I put a lot of sweat, blood, and sleepless nights into building this place.  I’m not gonna let a little smell and a speck of mold destroy my dreams.”  But no matter what you do you can’t get the place clean.

One day, months later, you come home and put your hand on the door knob.  It doesn’t turn.  You can’t even get into your house without breaking something.  You’re locked out of your dream.  Hours you’ve spent trying to figure out what’s wrong.  But you find no solution to the problem.  You can’t even sit on your porch swing to ponder what to do, because that mold is all over everything now.  Your legs lose their strength to walk down the steps into the yard.  Your hands drop in a great experience of depression.  And you stand under a tree, staring in disbelief at your shattered dream.  The work of your hands, the pride of your whole life, is destroyed.  How deeply sad you’re becoming as you realize it’s over.

There’s not much choice now.  And your mind begins to realize the full extent of the problem.  “There’s nothing left to do but burn it down”.  Tears begin to flow.  And soon you find yourself sobbing without shame.  Sadness has broken your heart.  “It’s over.”

How does God feel when He looks at us?  We are the work of His perfect hand.  He made this place for His joy.  And now we’ve become so very corrupt and foul.  He tries to enter our lives and we refuse Him His joy.  It is the heart of God that has been wounded.  It is perfection and eternity that is locked out of our lives.  And we did it.  It was not His desire that these things should be. 

By His Grace