Ephesians 2:19-20. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Three years ago, I was asked to be part of a team to oversee and manage the construction of a Php10 Million construct for our local church. I have to be completely honest that I felt like the biggest fool leading a team of contractors, foremen, an architect and an engineer considering that I was the only one in the team with no experience in construction and no formal training.
I did learn, however, was to put my complete trust in experts and let them do what they do best while I would simply give the vision and direction. Sounds easy enough, but I needed the grace of God on a daily basis no doubt.
In one instance, I was discussing with the civil engineer how much it cost to set ten-foot-deep foundations for the building. The cost was easily a third of the whole project budget and would probably cost more, but one thing I knew about construction is that foundations are important. So going with that, I gave the budget an “OK.”
The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the cornerstone that we build upon. A cornerstone is a big slab of rock that becomes the basis of every brick and stone that would become a construct. If the cornerstone were to be removed from a building, chances are, the whole building will be distorted or may even fall apart in some instances.
In the same way, Jesus is the cornerstone of every area of our life- our work, our families, our finances, our health, everything. And as simple as this sounds, many of us have removed the “Cornerstone” from our life and wondered why everything is falling apart.
Isaiah 28:16 says, ”Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.”
We all need a sure foundation, and though we try to make our expertise, our bank accounts, our families or even our connections those foundations, nothing and no one can be as effective at holding things together for us except Jesus.
We set Jesus as the cornerstone of our life by doing two simple things:
Make Him the standard for everything. Just as the cornerstone determines the size and angle that every other brick will be, Jesus is to be the standard in every decision and thought in our lives. We can’t always be like Jesus, but we can surely ask for His strength to enable us to be transformed into His glory and likeness progressively.
Lean on Him in times of turmoil. Many people turn to people, materials and substances when trials come thinking that things of this world can remove the pain, stress and worry that storms bring. But Jesus is the only sure foundation, and when we lean on Him and His power by putting our trust in Him, our life will not be easily shaken.