Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

UNFINISHED BUILDINGS When trouble plagues them, the people of Rome say, "It's just like St. Peter's; it is never finished." They have resigned themselves to the fact that St. Peter's Basilica, a beautiful place of worship whose construction was begun more than five hundred years ago, will never be completed. What may be true of St. Peter's is certainly true of a building about which the Bible talks. Paul described the believer and his growth as a field under God's cultivation, or, if you like, a house being built to his plan (1 Corinthians 3:9, Phillips). Some seem to think the Christian springs fully grown from the womb of conversion. How wrong they are! God's Word repeatedly tells us that knowing Christ involves daily growth. It is as if each day God adds new building blocks to our daily lives. We help Him build by daily devoting ourselves and submitting to His will. To build properly, nothing is ever left to chance. Therefore, Peter tells us exactly how God will help us grow. God adds to our faith virtue, then knowledge, then temperance, then patience, then godliness, then brotherly kindness, and finally love. Peter said something that staggers the mind: Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble(1 Peter 1:10). May we remember that God is working on and in our lives, and building us for eternity.