Under Construction

I have a wonderful setup in my office at church. I have two desks, one of which faces the door, and the one with my computer, screen and keyboard facing the window.  So as I write, whether preparing a sermon or this column, I can peer over my monitor and see the property our church owns across the street.

            Today I have been watching masonry workers lay blocks for the new building we have just started. Last week I watched as they poured the footings.  Soon I will see the slab poured, walls erected, and the roof installed. It is our hope that, before the end of 2023, we will be able to cook, and then sit down to eat, a meal in our new building. In the meantime, I am enjoying watching the process.

            In the same way that a building is slowing constructed, people should be growing and progressing to become what God created them to be.  In this life I will never fully arrive at that status. But I should be growing more like Christ every day. 

Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, once said she wished she could wear a sign around her neck that said, “Please be patient. Under construction.”  And she instructed Billy, and their children, to put the phrase, “Construction completed,” on her tombstone. 

I like that. It just makes sense.  We read in 2 Peter 1:5-7, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love.”  He understood that adding these character traits to our lives made us more like the Lord.

Just as I anticipate the completion of our new social hall and kitchen, I pray that my life is being constructed in a way that honors the Lord. Today, it is very clear that work on the building has just begun. But every day it looks more like a building. May our lives look more like Christ every day, as we continue the construction process!