Jesus, the chief cornerstone

“Built on the foundation of the apostles, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone” Eph 2:20

The challenge was clear.  Take these blocks and have fun.  No specific rules or direction given to them.  The only objective was for them to be entertain themselves for a moment while I cleaned.  The possibilities infinity.  They built towers, mazes for the remote-control cars or them on skates and even chairs.  They giggled and cheered with each successful build.  Then the seemingly inevitable happened.  The joy turned to cries once one of the chairs fell causing one to topple.  A quick regroup stirred their inner resolve to try again and yet again they fell.  Frustration soon set in drawing me from the kitchen to the center of the chaos.  As I watched them try again, the problem became clearer.  The “chair” as it was had only three legs so a construction redesign with a four-legged chair solved the problem and taught a value lesson.  The strength of a foundation matters.  This scripture tells us an important thing about Jesus. He is the utmost important foundation.  We discussed Jesus as the true vine and the good shepherd so now let’s explore him as the chief cornerstone.

Cornerstones served a purpose in architecture.  It was traditionally laid as the first stone in a structure.  As the first stone, all the other stones were laid in reference to the.  As a result, the cornerstone oriented the direction of the building.

Consider that!  The cornerstone sets the direction.  With Jesus as our cornerstone, our direction is set. He points us in the way serving as a guide to reference as each stone or pillar is laid in our life.  As moms, we juggle many things.  We have so many balls in the air or have so many things we think we ought to do or desire to do that we can lose our way. We can muddle the picture and the purpose of our calling, lose our focus on which way we should go, where we focus our attention.  We start building our foundation on things less stable.  Maybe we focus on our careers so much that we are home less or less present when we are home.  Maybe we focus on our image so much that we spend more time cleaning than we do playing. I have missed much play time and quality time doing this. Maybe we focus on our children’s behavior so much that our rearing turns more into roaring at them instead of rooting for them. Before we know it, we have received so much input and well intentioned advice or misdirected comments our direction shifts and we begin to drift onto a foundation on an image built by the world and off an image built by God. These shaky foundations are bound to tumble leaving us feeling lost.

Jesus, the chief cornerstone, serves as our constant north star, our way to refocus and redirect.  Every day, Jesus remains available to show us the way to go.  Despite our shifting, he remains unmoved.

Let us step away from media that dictates what motherhood looks like and use discernment when listening to others’ stories or advice.  Let us take a moment each day to ask him if which way he would direct us as we raise our littles, take care of our homes and our families.

Sow the seed: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Nurture the seed: On Christ, the solid rock we stand

Until next time,

happy sowing