Recently I had a few hours driving between cities to ponder questions that arise fairly regularly!
The beginning for me was once again "How and where do I fit?" On a previous little excursion into this area I began to consider whether in fact the church as we know it is the 'quarry' where the stones are shaped more than it is the house that God is building.
This process led to the understanding that I am constantly being shaped by God's hand and the circumstances He leads me through. That same hand will place me where His shape best fits, and only the master builder will ever know what that looks like.
As He places the stones in the wall of His House, not one of them is in a position to comment on the wall itself - whether it is straight, what it looks like, how big or small it is! They may have a sense of the shape of the most adjacent stones, but beyond that no knowledge of the final result.
All that we need to do is to make sure that we are truly aligned with the foundation stone.
So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretence, envy and hurtful talk.
Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God's pure kindness. Then you'll grow up mature and whole in God.
You've had a taste of God.
Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honour.
Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you'll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.
Scriptures provide precedent: Look! I'm setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honour. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it.
To you who trust him, he's a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him, The stone the workmen threw out is now the chief foundation stone.
For the untrusting it's . . . a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way. They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.
But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you-- from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
(The Message) 1 Peter 2
It is wonderful to be released to know the truth
Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.
