Building and Watching in Vain
A lot of people have a goal to build their "dream house." They scrimp and save to be able to include all of their desires. As they build it, they think that it will cause them to be happy. They think it will be a great place for their family or their retirement. However, they are forgetting the most important part of building a house. The same is true for a city. The residents want to make sure that they are safe from attacks, so they have watchmen to man their posts and keep and eye out for any enemies approaching or other things that would threaten the city. That is a good plan, but it is not the best way to protect a city. The psalmist told us the most important factor in both of these cases. It is the Lord. (Psalm 127:1) Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. God is the Only Builder and Watchman who can ensure we have a wonderful house and a secure city.
Should we really put so much emphasis on how big and nice our house is? Think about it. We could lose the house through financial problems or a fire could come and destroy it. The main thing is the family who lives in the house. If the family is strong, the house will be strong. The only way to ensure that we have a strong family is to allow the Lord to build our family. When we trust Him, He shows us all of the things that we need to be a stable, loving family. He shows us how to be responsible with our finances, too. Then, our home will truly be a happy place for us, no matter how nice it is. Also, we could have the best defenses for any city, and an enemy could break through and destroy the city. Just think of what happened on September 11, 2001. No one saw that coming. However, when God watches over us and our city, we are truly secure, because He is all-powerful and nothing takes Him by surprise. Therefore, whether we are building a house or watching a city, we need to depend on the Lord to do it His way, and we can know our efforts will not be in vain.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 130-132.