Straighten Up!

"It's off by three inches!"  He walked around the construction site with the tape measure bobbing on the ground in front of him.  Sighing, he muttered to no one in particular, "Off by three.  Going to have to dig again and move the concrete pier."  The tape measure rattled as he pulled it out of its encased metal coil in a wonky slither before hooking itself  to the end of the rigid beam.  Dirt was tossed, wooden blocks moved.  Another reading of the tape.  A rapping of the hammer rang out with a truing of the vertical and parallel lines. I went back to work and allowed the craftsman to continue his labors.  The melodic sounds of building a dream played out its tune.  

As a precise measurement in a building foundation is crucial, so in life.  Without exact measurements every stage of development will reflect whether the measurement was true or defective. God has the plans.  He is the builder.  There are those that believe they can build it all by themselves without the master plan.  But by what standard do they comport?  Where's the plumb line, the measure, the blueprint?



Amos 7:7 says, "Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand."  Can't you just see Him?  Strong arms heaving heavy timber beams onto His broad shoulders, swinging with steely strength the hammer of justice, striding across the expanse of a construction site attentively overseeing every detail--truly every bit a man's man, but yet with tenderness and love expressed so dynamic in strength it will knock you over with a feather.  Certainly not this sickly, mealy-mouthed artwork that has really done Him a disservice to show who He really is.  He walks around with lightning bolts in the palm of His hand.  He is the God of all. The Almighty One.  The walking, living, breathing, loving God.  He's magnificent!  If you don't know Him, you need to get to know Him.  Really.  He will definitely take your breath away.

So how do you know what the measuring line is?  It's fine to talk in ethereal terms, but where does the rubber hit the road?  Right here.  Right out of His own mouth.  "I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plummet" (Isa. 28:17).  He said, "The world is out of alignment.  It's way off the mark.  They can't fix it, but I can."  And you know what He did?  It's really something.  He gave up the only Son He had just for you.  The beam was laid out in place, the plummet came down upon it on the cross spiked with love and made the alignment.  Boy, was it ever a heavy debt to pay.  An indescribable gift--one without measure and beyond price.  But you know what?  He thought you were worth it.  And even today where the world is off kilter, lawlessness cries to be the order of the day, lives are seemingly meaningless in value, and integrity lacking en masse, the measure of truth and illumination can still be found. Isn't that something?  That's mercy.  True mercy. 

I went out later to see how the building was going.  Now with the pier was moved, dirt back in place, and the beam firmly secured with a smile of satisfaction he said, "Look!  It's right on!"  And it definitely was.  It was plumb.  Level.  Perfect.  Now, that's something I couldn't do.  I didn't know how to "make it right" or what to do from there.  But boy, he does.  He my master builder. 



If you feel like your life is starting to list or even at full tilt, find the measuring line of justice and look up...to the plummet.  You'll find an alignment that cannot be paralleled anywhere on earth or in the universe.  I did.  It's the cross.  I can tell you from personal experience once you bring your life into alignment with His Word nothing else will be the same.  If you make Him Lord of your life today that saving mercy will bring you redemptive release.  It's your choice. 




Craig Nelson wrote a beautiful song; the lyrics express it in right on the mark.  Take them to heart.  They're for you:

The years had left scars,
And the scars have left pain,
How could He recognize me,
For I wasn't the same;
I knew I should pay and I knew the price,
For justice and law had demanded my life.

O but His tender heart heard my desperate cry,
And He saw all my past through merciful eyes!

Beautiful, that's how mercy saw me,
For I was broken and so lost;
Mercy looked at all my faults.
Justice of God saw what I had done,
But mercy saw me through the Son;
Not what I was but what I could be,
That's how mercy saw me!

Wherever you've gone,
You can't go too far,
That His eyes of mercy, can't see where you are,
He loves you so much to leave you alone,
You're flesh of His flesh
And bone of His bone

And His heart cries out for your heart  today,
See yourself through His eyes, then you will say,

You'll say:
Sin had stolen my dignity,
And all my self esteem;
But I was made brand new again,
When mercy looked at me.

Beautiful, that's how mercy saw me,
For I was broken and so lost;
Mercy looked at all my faults.
Justice of God saw what I had done,
But mercy saw me through the Son;
Not what I was but what I could be,
That's how mercy saw me!
 

Not what I was but what I could be,
That's how mercy saw me!
That's how mercy saw me!