As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 1 Peter 2:4-6

As we continue our series “Construction Zone,” we can’t move forward without taking a look at our foundation. Everyone who’s ever built a house or even seen one built is aware of the great time and measuring and care that goes into laying the foundation. It is no different with our spiritual house than it is with physical structures; we must carefully lay our foundation to have a strong house. As 1 Peter 2 reminds us, we are living stones being built up into a spiritual house, and Ephesians 2:20 tells us that Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone.

You’re most likely familiar with the term “cornerstone.” Before the advent of poured cement, the cornerstone was that perfectly strong, perfectly hewn, and perfectly positioned boulder that was laid in the dug out earth to give strength and accuracy to the new structure being built. Jesus is that for us. He is our cornerstone in building our spiritual house that makes it a strong and well-built home.

As we construct our spiritual lives, we have to ask ourself first, “Am I built on the best cornerstone?” Some of us have built our lives on lesser cornerstones of family or a certain person or religion or even the unstable mud of money and possessions. Early on those things may have seemed to us as a teenager or young adult as The Thing that would make our life perfect. And newly built structures all look equally perfect at the moment. Only after years of living on a faulty foundation do we find our lives looking like the leaning tower of Pisa or crumbling in shambles and having to be torn down and painfully started all over from scratch so to speak. An examination today of what your life is built upon will save you pain and confusion in the future. It’s better to find the termites early, by accident, than years later when the destruction is irreparable.

If we answered that above question with a firm, “Yes. My life is built on the Chief Cornerstone,” then the next question is, “How are you continuing to build?”

Jesus tells us a story about a couple of builders in Matthew chapter 7. You’ve probably all heard it and maybe even sung a little song about it as a kid, but have you thought about the application of it to your life? Here’s the story:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27

Ladies, even if we acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Chief Cornerstone in our lives, we still have work to do. There is more to be built. The first choice is our choice of the foundation onto which we allow this cornerstone to rest. Is your Chief Cornerstone surrounded by the strong rock of hearing and obeying God’s Word or by the shifting sand of disobedience and lack of commitment to His Word? The rock of a heart that is committed to obey will choose to obey in the toughest storms and darkest hours of life. But the wishy-washy heart of those who hear God’s word and do not do them will lead to an unstable foundation that will shift and wash away when storms arise and times get tough, thus leaving an unstable home and life.

We tell our children, “Choices have consequences.” They do. Even for us as adults. Spend some time with your Father this morning and allow your “foundation specialist” to diagnose what is going on out of sight just below your floor. It may be time for some needed repairs before your structure crashes down around you. Build your foundation wisely!