Blueprint For Life
God gave us the blueprints, foundation stones, a keystone and the capstone necessary to build our existence according to His master project plan. This is the very same operating manual which parents use or try to in raising self sufficient children. Our blueprint is the bible, incorporating all of the necessary details to build upon. The bible is our societal education. Even non-believers are held accountable to these guidelines, since most laws are based on biblical principles and teachings. Our foundational stones are the ten commandments. Regardless of which religious teachings we subscribe to, we find duplication of most of these commandments embedded in them. See Exodus 20:2-17 for all of them. The first of these foundational stones, “You shall have no other gods before me,” is the subject of our greatest discourse. Although most people agree with the rule, they do, as a matter of religious conviction, disagree about who is meant by “me”! The remaining foundational stones are subscribed to by most other religions. The keystone, which holds everything together, is faith, something else most of us share, based again upon our convictions. The capstone, or crowning achievement, in Christianity, is the gracious finishing touch of our personal redemption and salvation, for choosing to be both believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
What is a building without any one of these components? If you guessed a flawed structure you’re correct. Without a capstone, it’s also a very temporary structure. No matter how perfectly the guidelines are written, without a detailed diagram, the assembly will be slow, tedious and in all probability flawed. So where is our diagram for life? First another question. Let’s say you ordered the very first new car. It was delivered, piece by piece in 10,000 boxes. One box includes a diagram of a fully assembled car, and 12 other boxes included the assembly instructions. Could you build it? Would it help if you had another perfect car to inspect and review as you went along? Our life diagram is an incredible example of the only perfect life (Jesus) the model that we can try to replicate and on-line help (Holy Spirit). We can’t build our lives perfectly, but Jesus can rebuild us and did, by prepaying the price to repair our flaws for us. If you’re ok with being permanently flawed and ultimately disposable, you can ignore God’s blueprint. If, you’d like to be considered for something better, eternal perfection (in God’s eyes), the plans, stones, commitment and execution are critical.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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