WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26
Author: Rev. Scott Tucker, Pastor for Grand Adults
FROM THE BIBLE
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:1-2
DEVOTIONAL
There’s a house in my in-law’s neighborhood that wasn’t built with any steel supports worked into it. I’m not quite sure the why behind that decision, as it was built before Lauren and I started dating, but it has always meant that this house has a bit of a strange look to it, where it just doesn’t seem as solid as the surrounding homes. Whenever I see this particular house, I think of the words of this particular psalm.
According to tradition, King Solomon penned these words while he was in the process of building the Temple in Jerusalem, and they remind us that the process of building, whether a house or a space for the worship of Almighty God, requires that it be a project centered upon the Lord’s desire. The Renewing the Promise campaign is one that we feel is firmly rooted in God’s desire for Peachtree that the work we are undertaking is not one that is being done in vain. Yet much like the building of the Temple by Solomon, this campaign is also not one that is purely for this single moment in time.
When I first saw the drawings for the Sanctuary, I saw not an investment of money but the place where I hope to one day stand with each of my children on their wedding days. When I have looked at the renderings of Wilson Chapel, I have not looked with loss at the place of the space where I was ordained but at a place where I will walk beside many families during memorial services and weddings in the future. Throughout this project, I see that the Lord is building this house so that we might worship Him throughout it. I look not at this campaign not as one simply for today but for decades to come.
PRAYER
God, as You called Solomon to build his temple for generations that he would not see, so we believe that You have called us to this project for the future of Peachtree. Open our eyes to see the mighty work that You have called us to undertake, not as one for us but as one for the generations of the future. In Jesus’ name, we pray; amen.