We are discussing the different
things that can occupy your time and with which you build your
house (your life). We discussed things that can be regarded as
building your house with straw. When you go through a difficult
time in your life, these straw that you spent your time on, will
not help you get through the crisis one bit. In fact it will blow
away like chaff in the wind. Then you can build your house with
sticks, like your work. It is important, but should not be the most
significant thing that your life revolves around. Then we get the
bricks in your life. Now they are the most important.
These are the things that your world should revolve around. I am
going to discuss them in detail over the next couple of weeks. But
let's start with the most important brick. I am sure you guessed
it. It is our wonderful Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Our foundation - Jesus
Christ
Your faith In Jesus should be the
foundation of your life and should receive the number one spot.
Your relationship with the Lord should be your main priority in
life. That is the most important part of our new covenant with
Christ:
"You must love the Lord your
God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your
strength." Mark 12:30.
He must be the One you think about
when you get up in the morning. He must be the One you run to when
you have a problem, He must be the One you share your joys and
delights with, He must be the One your whole day revolves around.
Involve Him in everything, because He wants to be part of
everything in your life. He wants you in totality. Of course He
knows you need to work and you need to spend time with your family
etc, but He wants to be part of it all. Involve Him.
After all, Jesus said: "Your
Heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and He will give you
all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the
Kingdom of God your primary concern."
We therefore need to seek God
first, and then all other matters will be dealt with. It
was the same when the Jews returned to the Promised Land after
being exiled for 70 years. They were confident and happy to be back
in their own land. They built an altar to the Lord and soon started
rebuilding the Temple of God. But their enthusiasm quickly withered
away as the hardship of being back in their desolate country
started to get to them. They had a good life back in Babylon and
some of them even had good businesses there and now they returned
to a deserted, gloomy wasteland open to attacks from various
enemies in the region. They started to feel depressed and left the
building of the Temple to try and make a living and build their own
houses. Soon enough they didn't have money and to top it all off,
they started to experience crop failures and rapid increasing
inflation. They didn't notice that these were sent from God because
they stopped building His Temple, stopped putting Him first in
their lives. God had to send the prophet, Haggai to tell them to
stop with worrying and caring only about their own houses and
lives, but to finish His Temple. He should be first and then all
other things would be given besides.
And it is the same with us. The
Temple of the Holy Spirit is our bodies and we should dedicate
everything in our lives to Him. We should use our temple to glorify
God and give Him the attention He so thoroughly deserves.
Put God first in your life,
dedicate everything to Him. Jesus and His finished work on the
cross is the foundation of your brick house and without Him even
the bricks in your life will amount to nothing good. Without your
Foundation, the brick house will eventually come tumbling down. God
wants first place, and you know what, if you give it to Him, your
life will have meaning and you will have the joy of the Lord to
guide you through this life!
Lord Jesus, please help us to give
You the number one spot in our lives that You so thoroughly
deserve. You are our everything and without You, our whole lives
will amount to nothing good. Thank you for always being there for
us. Amen