| Cross Words: Destruction Project |
Richard Prow ~ rpcrosswords@gmail.com
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Rewind the historical clock back a few millennia or so and you’ll find mankind in the midst of a massive construction project. The plan? Build a tower into the heavens to either reach God or be God. By way of bricks and mortar they inched their way higher and higher, the clouds looking as if they could be touched. But just as excitement began to escalate, God visited the site, demolished the structure, confused men’s language, and sent them on their way (Gen. 11).
The reason God shut down the construction site? Simple. Man was trying to accomplish what only God can. No matter how hard we try, and no matter our resolve, man can never reach God on his own terms and we cannot find security or contentment without Him. We are totally dependent on God reaching down to a lost humanity, not the other way around. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
Fast forward back to modern day and we find man in the building business again - not that we’ve ever quit - only this time the construction materials have changed. Money of course is our tower’s foundation, seeing as how our moods and emotions rise and fall based on which way the dollar has turned. We’ve crafted our walls out of fine jewelry, expensive cars, impressive jobs and positions of authority. The roof is laid with military arsenals, scientific discoveries and fame.
Collectively we are no wiser than our ancestors. We deceive ourselves into thinking we can find peace and happiness -and maybe even God- by the balance in our saving’s accounts, the rings on our fingers, and the diplomas fastened to our walls. Our construction method is outdated and our materials are inferior. Our tower will fall once again.
“But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we have already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10-11).
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