WELCOME TO THE MAILBOX CLUB!
Hebrews 3:4 tells us that every house is built by someone, but the builder of everything is God. He started with nothing, and He designed and created the world and everything in it. He is the expert. Do you like to build? If so, what do you like to build with? Do you love Legos? Do you like to build with real tools and wood? Are you a good builder? Even if you are a great builder, do you know everything about building? None of us do, but God, the Master Builder, does know everything. Whether you know it or not, you are currently building something called life. Do you want your life to turn out beautiful, useful, and lasting? All of us do, but how can we make that happen?
If you were going to build an important building, you would need to start with the right foundation. Our theme verse this summer comes from Matthew 7:24. Jesus says the wise man builds his house on the rock. What rock is He talking about? He is talking about Himself as the rock of our salvation. Each of us is building an important building called life. If we want our life to survive for eternity, we need to build on the right foundation. If we don’t start with repentance and faith in Him, the building of our lives will not stand. Repentance means turning away from sin and turning to God. It is not enough to just believe that Jesus died. We also have to repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus as the only one who can make us right with God. That is what salvation is. I hope that you are now building your life on The Rock.
Although starting with the right foundation is important, it isn’t the only important thing. Another important part of building is having a plan. The plans for a building are called blueprints. If you just haphazardly throw things together, your building won’t be as strong, as useful, or as beautiful. You will also waste time and money as you will have to undo things that weren’t done in the right order or that don’t work together. You need blueprints before you start so that you can build things well. Jesus is the master builder, and He has given us blueprints for how to build the most beautiful and strong life. Those blueprints are called the Bible.
Now, if you had blueprints for a house but never looked at them, would it do you any good? Of course not. You need to study the blueprints. What if you studied the blueprints, but you didn’t follow them, would that do you any good? No, that would also be useless. James 1:22-25 talks about how useless it is to just hear (or read) God’s Word and not to do it. It is as foolish as looking at yourself in the mirror to see if you look OK but immediately forgetting what you saw and not fixing the problems. What good would it do to see that there was something stuck in your teeth if you don’t fix it? In the same way, studying blueprints is worthless if you don’t follow them. Reading your Bible is good, but if you don’t try to fix the problems in your life that it shows you, what was the point? If we want our lives to be strong, beautiful, and useful we need to study the Bible and to follow its instructions. Jesus is the Master Builder. He knows what is best. We should trust and follow His plan even when it is hard. If we do, we will be glad in the end.
If you have ever looked at the blueprints of a house, you know they can be a little confusing. Some things are easy to understand, but there are many other things that you might not be sure what they mean. In the same way, some parts of the Bible are easy to understand. When we read God’s command not to murder in Exodus 20:13, we aren’t confused. Other parts of the Bible can be very confusing. In 2 Peter 3:15, Peter said that many of the things Paul wrote were hard to understand. Peter, one of Jesus’s twelve disciples, even had trouble understanding some things in the Bible. Even the things we think we understand, like that command in Exodus 20:13, mean more than we realize at first glance. Jesus told us in Matthew 5:21-22 that hating someone is murdering them in your heart.
Since the blueprints for our life, the Bible, can be hard to understand, how can we make sure we build our house correctly? The most important thing to do, is to ask the Master Builder, God, to help you to understand His Word correctly. We can ask Him by praying. Prayer is simply talking to God. We can tell Him how much we love Him. We can thank Him for things He has done. We can confess sins we are struggling with. We can also ask for His help. Not only can we pray, but when you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you, and He will be with you forever according to Jesus in John 14:16. He can guide you and teach you to understand God’s blueprints. Don’t try to figure out the blueprints on your own. Ask the Master Builder to help you and to work with you to build a godly life.
Would you want to build a house all by yourself with no one else helping? Of course not! Would you want to build it with only one other person helping? Never! It is much easier, and it turns out better when many people help, especially because different people have different talents. Some people are great electricians. Some are great plumbers. Others are good at sheetrock, tiling, painting, etc. In the same way, each of us has different strengths in life. Some people are great encouragers. Some are great teachers. Some are quick to see areas where there is a need and step in to help. Galatians 6:2 says that we are to bear one another’s burdens. Hebrews 10:24-25 says that we are to encourage and build each other up and to be in community. If you want to build a godly life, you need help. First, you need help from the Master Builder, God. However, you also need help from other Christians, people who are also trying to build their own godly lives. Working together makes it come out better and faster as well as being more pleasant because you are working with friends. Let the Master Builder be the one in charge, and work together to follow His instructions.
So, now we are building on the right foundation, and we have blueprints which we are studying and plan to follow. Is that all we need? No, we also need the right tools, and we need to use them in the correct way. What are some of the tools we need in building physical buildings? There are many useful tools including: tape measures, squares, levels, and saws. Each one must be used in the right way to be most effective.
If I measure a board, but I don’t start the measuring tape at the end, the board won’t end up the right length. Many of us try to measure ourselves by other people. That is like starting your measurement in the middle of the board. We need to measure our lives by Jesus and His standard if we want things to end up right. Levels and squares make sure the parts of the building line up correctly so that you don’t end up with one side of the building taller than the other. Just as with the measuring tape, we need to square and level our lives against God’s Word NOT other people or the world’s expectations.
Saws are used to cut off what is not needed so that you don’t have boards sticking out everywhere. Who wants a building that looks like a porcupine? In the same way, there are many sins that need to be cut out of our lives. Some people are frequent liars. Some are selfish and unkind. Some are constantly complaining and dissatisfied. Some are disobedient and rebellious. Some have dirty mouths. Some like to look at things that dirty their minds. Those are just some examples of sins that need to be cut from our lives. Will you allow God to cut away those things in your life that make your building ugly and less functional? Will you work with God to fight against temptations and cut them out of your lives?
We also need the right supplies for building. What supplies would we need for a house? Lumber, roofing, electrical wires, pipes, flooring, sheet rock, nails, screws, etc. It takes a lot of supplies to build a house. It also takes lots of supplies to build a godly life.
Nails and screws are used to hold the building blocks of the building together. What holds a godly life together? Love is the main thing holding a godly life together. A godly life will be filled with love for God and love for others. John 13:35 tells us that we will be known by our love. 1 John 4:7-11 tell us that if we have Christ as our foundation through salvation, we will love others because God is love. Faith and hope are the other two main things that hold a godly life together. 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us that these three things endure forever, but the greatest of the three is love. Without faith and hope in God’s promises, we will become discouraged and fall back into our old worldly life.
Electrical and plumbing supplies make a house more comfortable. Sheet rock makes it more appealing. In our lives, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control are some of the things that make our lives more appealing to others and more comfortable to be around. Those are fruit of the Spirit, which means we can’t grow them in our lives on our own. As we grow closer to God through prayer, studying the Bible, and worshipping Him, the Holy Spirit will cause His fruit to grow in our lives so that people will enjoy being around us more. That doesn’t mean that everyone will like us, but our lives will bring joy and help to more people when we add these “building supplies” to our lives.
One day, when you look back at your life, what kind of building will you see? Will you be pleased with what you have built? Or will you look back and wish that you had built your life differently? Start building your life with care and the Master Builder’s help now so that you won’t have regrets in the future.