Building Blocks and Stepping Stones (Day 1 from Cleansing Thoughts)

 

        

        WHEN MY GRANDSON WAS THREE, every time he came over to spend the day with me, the first thing he wanted to do was get out the building blocks. "Grandma, build a house," he would say, and for the next several hours, we would build one house after another. Om the other hand, his little sister, almost two, had quite a time with the obstacle course created by the spilled blocks. I watched her very carefully trying to get through the maze of blocks, stumbling over even the smallest in her path. He would get mad, and the whole process would start all over again. It was only when he convinced his sister to sit down and help him build that the first house was completed. The three of us sat there for a very long time building houses until there were no more blocks to use. All around us were several little houses, but it was impossible to move without knocking them down! Then Grandpa came in, and the small city of blockhouses we had spent hours building came tumbling down.

    When the house was quiet again, after the grandkids had gone home and everyone was sleeping, I would stand there looking around the empty room. The laughter that had filled this place just hours before now only filled my heart. All the blocks had been picked up, or at least I thought so until I stepped on one as I walked through the darkened room, OUCH will I ever learn to double-check that I found them all! As I sat in my chair I would start run the day events through my mind and suddenly start to laugh as I remembered how quickly our building project had been sacrificed when Grandpa came home. I thought of my little granddaughter stumbling through the maze of blocks; to her, they were an obstacle, but to her brother, they were of great value and brought hours of pleasure. A smile would come to my face as I remembered watching him convincing her to work with him until their goals became as one, then suddenly, the stumbling stones became building blocks for her as well.

    Some of the simplest lessons in life can be learned from observing the everyday things that happen around us. This evening, as I thought of the grandchildren and the blocks, I was reminded that the Word of God tells us that Jesus is both a building block and a stumbling stone. When we believe and put our trust in Him, He becomes the cornerstone of our lives forever supporting us as we build our faith and our walk with Him. The Word says we become "living stones" being built into a "spiritual house." With each block, or stone as it were, we lay is a principle we've learned from God's Word. As we learn to rely upon Him, we grow more blocks to build His house. Precept upon precept, we become a royal priesthood indwelled by the Spirit of the living God. However, the Word goes on to say in 1 Peter 2:8 (Amplified Bible) that to those who disobey Jesus become "a Stone that will cause stumbling and a Rock that will give [men] offense." Disobedience to God and His Word only brings destruction. Like the city of blockhouses, when we reject Him, we are destined to tumble down. Obedience is a vital part of our salvation to all who give heed and obey Him." Yet why do so many Christians, who are to be Christ-like, stumble in their faith? Again, 1 Peter2:8 gives us the answer, "They stumble because they disobey and disbelieve [God's] Word."