All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others

Ever used a plumb line?

Plumb line - and getting back to it.

One of the most amazing things about the ancient buildings I touched in Israel was how straight and true were the walls. I love taking photos from different perspectives.

From a raft looking through the reeds along the Jordan River ...

From a boat rail looking down at the Sea of Galilee, my feet in the picture

And from the ground, shoulder against the wall of the Temple,

looking up at the sky ...

ah, perspective.

Without college-educated engineers and modern technology, how in the world did the

builders manage to move the huge, heavy boulders into straight alignment? The old Bible (as my mom called it) informs us: a plumb line. The prophets Amos,1 Zechariah and Jeremiah, all referred to a plumb line.

"A cord weighted with lead that is used in building

to check that vertical structures are true."

It is used symbolically to refer to the divine standard against which God,

the builder of his people, tests and judges them.

It also symbolizes the standards by which God will rebuild his people.2

Through a Pret a Manger3 window in New York City, I am watching people stream by in frigid morning temperatures. Hmm, philosophically, how does one know he is headed in the right direction? A bearded Orthodox Jew in his big hat, a doorman with a fur hat, a street vendor in a ball cap, a construction worker in a hard hat ...

is there any way to know we humans are on the right path?

I believe so.

We can refer to the manual God gave us - the inspired words of God,

which acts as our plumb line ...

whose words have stood up to scrutiny for thousands of years.

In the Bible, God reveals himself, his plans, his heart and his work among his people on the pages of Scripture.4

The author of Hebrews said, 'The Word of God is living and active...' 5 What an outrageous claim to make of something on a printed page! But it is true. 'It penetrates to the soul and spirit...' Images flash in my mind of times when I wanted to comfort someone, when I wanted to say something to a friend--

. . . whose son was sick in the hospital, and the diagnosis or prognosis not yet known

. . . who needed to make some tough decisions about work that would impact his family-- the anxiety was overwhelming!

. . . who has known nothing but abandonment all her life

. . . who had broken up his family because of his immoral decisions, and was now hopeless himself . . .

What could I offer these who had been impressed upon my heart? Where could I go to find words filled with hope, and yet truth? To the one book that could provide comfort, wisdom, guidance, promise, and forgiveness . . . the Word of God.

The Word of God has the ability to seep into the very marrow of our being-to bring peace, lead, guide, convict, and offer forgiveness too. That is why it is truly ALIVE. Unlike an inspirational poem whose words bring a smile, or a kind encouraging word, Scripture offers divine sustenance, which is unequaled. While we can comprehend how we got the Holy Scriptures, and how they are supported historically, scientifically, etc., apart from the Holy Spirit, there is no accounting for how God's Word is also personal, applicable, and life-giving, and apropos to our daily lives!

Back to the byways of New York City, where subway riders avert the gazes of each other, (though I try to catch their eye and exchange a smile), where passers-by on the street never look one another in the eye but stride quickly toward their destinations. Can any of us know we are heading in the right direction, that we are on the right path? Oh, yes! As David so eloquently wrote: 'Thy Word is a light unto my path, and a light unto my feet.'6 God's Word acts as a plumb line for those who believe and follow him.

And so, in short order, we will turn our attention from matters of the day, including Christmas, back to a systematic look at the scriptures-namely the book of Acts.

Christine

PastorWoman.com

1 - Amos 7.7-8

2 - Dictionary of Bible Themes, https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionary-of-bible-themes/7254-plumb-line

3 - a killer coffee place with healthy food as well

4 - Yesterday in church I used my phone to read along in the book of James, but the printed word on the page somehow speaks so much more readily to me. Call me shallow-I need to touch it, reread it, look at the context and make notes in the margins of my black leather Bible

5 - Hebrews 4.12

6 - Psalm 119.105

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