Week 6 · Thursday

Start Right to End Right

by Ray Mechling

Acts 4:10-12 Then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

I remember when I was growing up on the farm helping my Dad as he was preparing to build the foundation for a new building. It was so important to him that the “chief corner” was square and true. Every step of that building process was then built off that chief corner, because, as he would say, “you must start right to finish right.”

Years later I learned just how important that lesson was. I once joined a group of volunteers to finish a building being erected on a foundation that was not so square or true. Because the foundation was not square or true we had trouble with everything from the sheeting on the floor to the sheetrock on the ceiling. Nothing would line up or fit correctly. In short, it was a real mess, not to mention all the extra effort required to try and make it “look good.”

I have found that the same holds true in my daily life. If I build upon something not founded in Christ, nothing lines up. If I continue on that way, my life becomes a real mess. Believe me, no amount of spackle or paint will help.

Prayer: Father, help me to build my life only upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and faith in Him.  For only Christ is true and unchanging.