I have been watching a humongous building going up in a corridor on the Atlanta Highway, which is now filled with warehouses – I’m talking warehouses which are several hundred thousand feet in scale. I noticed the corner of this soon to be monstrosity as it stood alone, being braced, it appeared, by beams as large as telephone poles. Even though I have known in theory what a cornerstone is, I don’t believe I have ever seen the corner of a cement building at its inception. A cornerstone, also called a foundation stone or setting stone, is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry building, around which all other stones will be set. It determines the position of the entire structure.
As I stared at it, I hoped, for the builder’s sake, that it was straight. Even if it were just a little “off,” the whole structure would be compromised. I couldn’t help but think about the Scripture describing Jesus as the Cornerstone – the chief Cornerstone, on which the church is built (Ephesians 2:20-21). He is the foundation for the church and for our very lives. How many lives are out of whack, crooked and disjointed, because the foundation, meant to orient the rest of the structure of our lives, is missing, or not in the proper place?
Paul describes the foundational characteristic of the nature of Christ in Colossians 1:15-. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth…in him all things hold together.” He holds it all together; it is his very nature. He wants to be the cornerstone of our lives, around which everything else is built.
So I ask today, who or what, is your cornerstone? What are you building your life around – relationships, money, career, amusement? Anything other than the Chief Cornerstone is like building on shifting sand.
May we build well, on the sure foundation that will not fail.
Life By The Way 