We all put our trust in something. Every one of us places high value on something that we expect to help, guide, provide, or uplift us. There is something in our lives we place as the pivotal piece of our life’s foundation, that we rest upon, rely on, have faith in. If Christ is not this cornerstone then we may as well be building our lives on shifting sand.
And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
Matthew 21:44
In Matthew 21, we see Jesus explain to the Pharisees in the form of a story that those who reject Him also reject God. Essentially, those who place anything other than Him as their pivotal foundational piece, their cornerstone, will crumble. When we place earthly things; money, popularity, position and status, material wealth and possessions, or people, above Christ, we rest our foundation on things that disappoint and disappear. Only through truly placing our trust in and resting our foundation on Christ can we come into a relationship with God and receive the blessings He has in store for us. Christ must be our cornerstone.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Psalm 118:22
Putting Christ as the pivotal, strengthening piece of our foundation is a daily, constant choice. We will face countless temptations every day and fight against the societal norm in order to intentionally keep Jesus as our focus and ensure He is where our trust remains. As we strive to learn more about Him we will continue to learn more about how to live better, and also about the promises we have from God through this relationship with His Son.
‘I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ‘
Philippians 3:14
When we make the decision to live for, live as, and learn more about Christ we discover who we are called to be. Over time we open up more and more to His instruction and receive blessings and guidance for our lives. In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus explained, again through a story, that God blesses each of us “according to his abilities” (v. 15), just like the servants in the story. Each was blessed, but not all went and multiplied their blessings in the world. God wants us to use what He blesses us with to go out into the world and bear even more fruit so that more people will also come to know Him through His Son. As we go out in obedience to be generous, serve, and bless others, He continues to bless us in a multitude of ways.
‘For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ‘
Matthew 25:29
We will be given opportunities to trust Jesus as our cornerstone; rely on His strength and instruction, trust His guidance even when it seems insane, lean on Him when we’re hurting, give when and how we are called to. One of the best ways to strengthen His position as your cornerstone is explained in yet another of Jesus’ stories.
In Luke 10:25-37, after confirming God’s law to “love your neighbor” a lawyer asked Jesus in verse 29 “who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered the man by telling the now-famous story of the Good Samaritan, where a man was mugged and beaten, left half dead. Multiple people walked by the man, disregarding him, but one man, a complete stranger, a traveler himself, saw the broken man and took him to an inn where he saw to it the man was cared for. Jesus then instructed, “You go, and do likewise.” (v. 37).
So, how can we strengthen Christ as our cornerstone? By loving broken strangers; meeting people where they are on their journey, seeing them for their brokenness, but choosing to love them as God commands us to love and also loves us, with patience, kindness, and without judgement, slander, harm, arrogance, or resentment.
‘ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ‘
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
God sees our broken world full of broken people, like this dying man on the side of the road, and chose to send His Son down to pay the ultimate price for our brokenness to ensure we have a way to receive Salvation and come to the Father. He picked us up, brought us into a place of grace and healing, knowing we were broken and loving us anyway.
We are called to show the same love and grace toward friends, fellow Christians, family, and even strangers and enemies. By doing this, loving broken people the same way Christ loves us, we strengthen His position as our foundation. We must intentionally put our trust in Him as our Saviour, our strength, our provider and guide.
‘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. ‘
1 Peter 2:5
Life is not easy. Loving people is messy. Let’s face it, we aren’t always loveable either, but God loves us so much He paid a price greater than we could ever repay so that we could all come into relationship with Him, receive His unimaginable blessings, and go out into the world to be a blessing to other broken people.
All of this is possible only because Christ has set Himself up to be our true, sturdy, reliable, trustworthy, strong, eternal cornerstone. Trust God, love people, and have grace with one another’s brokenness. Meet people where they are, remembering we are all at different places in our journey and strengthen Jesus’ position in the foundation of your life and faith by being obedient to His love and instruction for your life.
‘ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ‘
John 3:16-18
