What Are We Building?

Luke 14:27-30 (KJV) ²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.  ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?  ²⁹ Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, ³⁰ Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

As I meditate on this passage, I am impressed at how often we can read Scripture and because we read it often, pass over key words of Jesus.  He spoke what He heard the Father say, yet we often take it very casually.  There is nothing included in the Bible that does not carry a message for us.  The portion in Genesus concerning the tower of Babel is not just there for a historical reference.  It is a warning that man tries to make his own access to God.  Christians do the same.  That is what we call the "legalistic approach".  There is no simple answer to our building our own "tower".  Our imaginations take over and we spend time dwelling on imaginative "answers" to our circumstantial problem.  Then we pray that "answer" to God and are discouraged when God does not respond to our instructive prayer.  The next step in our building our tower is to get people to agree with us and try to get God to respond.  If we remain in our self-destructive path, God may very well give us what we are asking.  This does not wake us from our sleep, but it does give us a clue as to why so many Christians are speaking differently. 

God speaks a clarion call.  When the clamor of "self" is quieted, we can hear the Spirit speak.  When the cry goes forth, 'The Bridegoom is coming', all the believers will waken.  When Jesus gave this parable, He stressed the need to purchase is heeded, the knowledge of where to go to purchase is followed, but the timing is wrong.  The I AM is in the present moment.  We don't take vacations from following Him.  The above verse again stresses the need to "bear our cross, and come after" Jesus.  Go to your quiet place and listen.  Let Him speak to you so you follow Him.  The circumstance you seek to remove may be the Lord guiding you away from your "self" and into Him.