GodReflection: A Word We Can Count On—Builder.
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:9).
In many ways my experience of childhood in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico in the Southwestern United States, was an exercise in freedom. I didn’t appreciate it at the time.
Federal lands compose 51% of the area in nine of the eleven western states. That meant our state with its national forest, parks, wilderness, and rangeland was a boundary less playground. Thousands of worn pathways crisscross these lands without fences. They stand as a tribute to wild animals that manage their own system of roads. Worn bare from use, they are trails through natural habitat.
The imagery translates into pathways to the Holy God. In my life with The Holy I keep two or three paths worn with use. Others I travel infrequently. They are not as comfortable to the way I am wired or as natural as are my favorite trails.
My favorite paths are those I traverse with ease and with confidence. I know them well. I am at home among the Builders. It is as if intuitively I follow the Builder pathway. I feel like I am close to the center of God’s will for my life when I work with my God-wiring as a Builder.
There is confidence that Father-Son-Spirit smiles as Kingdom Projects move in a positive direction. I am thrilled deep in my heart when I hear stories of those who become children of the King through a Building project God chose to bless.
The apostle Paul from deep gratitude of undeserved grace followed the Builder’s path across the Roman world. I love his imagery.
The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise Builder, and someone else is Building on it. But each one should Build with care (1 Corinthians 3:8-10).
In my sunset years, due to age and a worn-out body I find I travel life’s road less frequently as a Builder. That is ok. Builder remains A Word We Can Count On.
Just as my dad could look at a house he had Built many years earlier, it still gave him the joy of knowing he was the Builder. So too, I get enormous pleasure in hearing the successes and reflecting upon my life as a Builder. I think The Holy also has a wide grin.
What a fun path it is for one who received God’s wiring as a Builder. At the core is the realization of being a partner with God in a Holy Task. I still feel excitement just to think of the process.
To draw blueprints, recruit co-workers, gather resources, execute steps, witness God’s power, and stand in awe at the kingdom fruits that grows and ripens without end, is the joy of the walk down the Builder’s pathway.
Dear Holy God,
I think of your list in the Hebrew Letter of the men and women who walked the Builder Pathway prior to the arrival of Jesus on earth.
I greatly admire the thousands upon thousands who accepted your call upon their lives to follow the Builder Pathway since the resurrection.
I pray for those who will yet answer the call as fellow workers; those who will gravitate to a closer walk with You through active participation as Builders of the Kingdom.
May the reign of Jesus cover the earth.
I pray through His Holy Name.
Amen
Yes, Builder is A Word We Can Count On.
Dr. Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection: A Word We Can Count On—Builder.
