December 28, 2024 7:00 pm
When I was a young boy in Ohio, we lived near several construction sites. Inspired by them, my friends and I gathered leftover scraps to build a fort. Borrowing tools from our parents, we hauled wood and spent days trying to make our material serve our purposes. It was fun, but our attempts were poor reflections of the well-constructed buildings around us. They didn’t last long.
In Genesis 11, we encounter the first recorded building project. “Let us build ourselves a city,” said the people, “with a tower that reaches to the heavens” (v. 4). A big problem with this effort was that the people did it to “make a name for ourselves” (v. 4).
This has been a recurring issue for humans; we build monuments to ourselves and our achievements. Later in the biblical narrative this story is contrasted with Solomon’s motivation for building God’s temple: “I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God” (1 Kings 5:5).
Solomon understood that what he built needed to point to God and not himself. This was such an important lesson that he even wrote a psalm about it. Psalm 127 opens with “unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (v. 1). Like my childhood fort-building, what we build will not last, but God’s name and what we do for Him has lasting significance.
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Thank you for faithfully listening to the audio version of Our Daily Bread. I'm Matt Lucas, President of Our Daily Bread Ministries. Although the ministry has always been focused on making the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all, we have a renewed commitment to helping you develop a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Jesus as you listen and read scripture with Our Daily Bread. To do that, we're making some changes to the audio format that we believe will encourage you to have a more thoughtful and reflective devotional time. You'll notice these changes starting the first of January, and we pray that they are beneficial as you read and listen and then reflect and respond to the message. Your friendship, prayers, and generosity allow us to make the Bible a vital part of everyday life for more people around the world.
Thank you. Our Daily Bread. The reading for today titled Building What Lasts was written by Matt Lucas. Our attempts were poor reflections of the well-constructed buildings around us.
They didn't last long. We build monuments to ourselves and our achievements. Later in the biblical narrative, this story is contrasted in 1 Kings 5 with Solomon's motivation for building God's temple. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God. Solomon understood that what he built needed to point to God and not himself. This was such an important lesson that he even wrote a psalm about it. Psalm 127 opens with, unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Like my childhood fort building, what we build will not last, but God's name and what we do for him has lasting significance.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Genesis chapter 11 verses 1 through 8. But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth and they stopped building the city. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, would you teach us to build with hearts that seek your glory rather than our own? And may all that we do reflect your goodness and your grace, and may it stand as a testament to your power and your presence in all of creation. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Wes Ward, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-12-28 20:06:18 / 2024-12-28 20:07:42 / 1