The Builders

"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."  Psalm 127:1
What a delicate balance between God doing a thing and our working along by his side in an effort.  From witnessing to an acquaintance about Jesus to building the local church, working with the Lord is a learned skill.  It is so easy to start off watching His hand like a trained hunting dog not moving until his master gives the command. Then as we mature in our gifts we begin to do more and more by our experience. That's not necessarily a bad thing "IF" we are still watching and listening to Jesus for his direction and approval of our efforts and the timing of our efforts.  It is just as wrong to do the right thing at the wrong time as doing the wrong thing.  Yet, the Lord doesn't want us to remain novices.  He is looking for mature and skilled workers in the work of the Kingdom.


When Jesus said, "I will build my church", He didn't mean he would do it all by himself.  Just as if a homeowner decides to build his own house he doesn't mean to imply that he will do all the work.  He means he will direct the work of the workers. The same is true of Jesus in the "building" of his church. He is looking for workers or "builders" that he can trust with following his blueprint.  As builders in the work of the house of the Lord we must regularly review our labor and redouble our efforts at building according to his plan and not our opinion or taste.  Once I hired a man and gave him specific instructions as to what I wanted done.  I left and was gone for a trip across the country.  When I returned the man I had hired said, "I think you will like what I did for you".  My thoughts were, "I'll be pleased if you did what I asked you to do before I left!"  He had not and I wasn't pleased.  He did what he thought was best rather than what I had asked him to do.  We must build with a heart to please our MASTER.  When we build with our hands active on the earth but our hearts firmly anchored in heaven, we can be assured we are building according to the pleasure of the Builder.