Who builds your house? (National Day of Prayer is May 3)

As we prepare for National Day of Prayer, please consider, what makes for a lasting and united house? (This year's NDoP theme is Unity)

The same foundation brings prosperity for every house, whether we’re talking about a family, a church, or a nation. What foundation could naturally be the source of all good, you ask? :)

Let’s find out by looking at the start of Psalm 127, A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

When building a “house” for myself, how many times have I been pridefully demanding, unnecessarily stressed, or noticeably unrestful apart from God? On my own, I know not the way of blessedness, and struggle aimlessly against it. I miss the mark (sin).
As Christ would say, consider the ravens! They aren’t all stressed out storing up their 401Ks, fulfilling their duties to their young, or soaring the friendly skies.
These are their benefits of living in their identity--the nature that God gave them. 

So we too need to know that we have a loving heavenly Father. This Dad—the Great King—extends amnesty and deepest friendship to all rebels who will lay down their arms and stop fighting him. Sinners can be reconciled to a holy God. Because God’s identity is unwavering and sure, we can have solidarity in our identity! He’s the foundation of it all*, no?

Where else can we turn?** I know Christ has the words of eternal life.
Should we trust in tanks or bombs? Harsh words or human diplomacy? Perhaps our livestock and economy? The folly of entrusting one’s life and blessedness to such things is well documented.

In contrast to death--and its root: sin--in the world, Christ says “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) So let’s humbly seek him and build on the only firm foundation, even Christ, so that we might not be ashamed in his Presence. Agreed?! :) 

-- Daniel



End notes:
*Evil is just the corruption of good. Therefore, since God makes the good and we can corrupt it, God is still the foundation for every complete thing!

** Some trust that humanity will learn to transcend itself. We might be lured to trust technology instead of God since it promises to make you a new person. Technology allows us to make decisions that previously only God and chance could make, designer babies, etc. But as CS Lewis points out in The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength, every new advance over human nature makes us both the conqueror and the conquered. Power over human nature really just means the power of some people over others. I think the real implications of people trying to redesign humanity will only be evident if we seek to understand humanity as integrated relational wholes, morally corrupted but made in the image of God. If any nation—however great—swerves from the path of truth by ignoring key aspects of human nature, still the proverb will apply: ‘the way of the false… is hard’ (Pr 13:15). So let’s “be salt and light” for the good of all. (See Matthew 5:13-16, 1 Cor 12:7, John 15:5)