Today’s Reading: Hebrews 11:10
A couple days ago, while running errands with my children, I received a phone call that was answered into the car speakers. On the other line there was a gentleman who was trying to solicit something from me and my son asks “ Dad was that Martin Luther King you were talking to?” This made me laugh but it also prompted him to ask about the different speeches that Dr. King delivered while he was still alive. We Googled a particular speech which is titled “What’s Your Life’ s Blueprint?” This speech outlined some amazing and very important parts in the lives of middle school and high school students. Highlights from Dr. King’s speech: 1.) Everyone has to a have a deep belief in their own dignity, worth, and “somebodiness” 2.) You must have a determination to achieve excellence 3.) Commitment to the eternal principle of beauty, love, and justice. And as we listen to the speech I was inspired and had it for a renewing of what is the blueprint of my life.
In Hebrews 11: 10 (MSG) we see that God is the builder and the architect of our life.
8-10 By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
But what does having God as your builder and architect really mean? To understand it fully we have to look at three different distinct Phases of a builder and an architect. 1.) The blueprint, 2.) The supplies 3.) The finished product: the building.
As God as our architect and builder, he has a blueprint for each of our lives. Jeremiah 29: 11 (ESV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[b] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Before the foundation of the earth and before the foundation of our body God has already designed us to for fill a certain purpose in his grand design.
Psalms 139: 1-6, 13-14
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Daily we reminisce in the past, worry about the present and question the future. In doing so, we are trying to figure out how to better meet others needs but not inquiring what God has already determined in his plan. Sometimes our brief view cannot incorporate all of what God has in store for us because his view is so vast. The blueprints he has designed are not for our complete benefit, but to bring him glory.
The next item is Supplies. In the construction of the temple of God, David is prepared everything for God’s house. David had the designs, the supplies, the people, the ornaments. Because of some of the choices that David committed, he was not able to complete the temple. Solomon, David’s son, was granted the chance to build the temple. The father provided in advance the necessary supplies for the son.
I Kings 5: 3-6
“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5 And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ 6 Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
Sometimes the supplies that God uses are not the ones that we can see physically. Sometimes the ones that have gone before us prepare the supplies for us. This could be from our parents, grandparents, pastors, friends, or neighbors. The supplies that He is using to build us are specific to each person. The supplies can be tangible, but a lot of the supplies are spiritual and we have to be mature enough to be able to understand how to use these at how God is using the supplies in our life.
Finally, the end product is the Building. Many times the builder and architect can see the finished product. But most the time the finished product for that builder is another project and once completed they go to the next project. Many times the builder does not revisit the building. But with God the end product which is us, we cannot see the full effects of the finished product. This past week, I had many dear friends and love ones started their eternal journey. The buildings I’ve witnessed by their lives are beautiful cathedrals of faith, love, and hope. These buildings of beauty are so evident by the legacy of that person is reflected in the loved ones.
Heavenly Father,
Allow us to be patient with you as you are building us for your Glory. Allow us to understand that the finished product is where we are with you. Amen