For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. – Hebrews 3:4

Today's Scripture Reading (June 23, 2024): Hebrews 3

For a time, my grandparents built houses. Maybe it was just a different day, or it is possible that Grandpa and Grandma did things differently, but what often seems today to be a task with many people working to get the job done, most of the work on the various house sites was done by my grandparents. I remember visiting them when I was a pre-teen and watching them work. My grandfather was a big man, and remembering back to that time, it is incredible to me that I got to watch my grandfather hauling heavy materials across the construction site or up a ladder all by himself. For my grandparents, building a house was indeed a ma-and-pop operation. Most days, they seemed to work alone, accomplishing the task set before them.

The author of Hebrews states what seems to be an obvious reality: every house was built by somebody. I would guess that most houses today are built by teams led by an expert in the field. I am unsure how many ma-and-pop builders are still building their homes. And maybe that is good, although I think the modern way removes the pride of getting the job done and realizing that your sweat and tears made the home a reality.

Every house was built by somebody, but we don't often think of the builder of the home until something goes wrong. A friend of mine bought a brand-new house many years ago. His new home had a rental suite over the garage, and a problem arose when the toilet plugged up and had to be pumped out about every three months. No one could figure out what was wrong until they realized the rental suite toilet had never been connected to the sewage system. And to make matters even worse, the spot where the pipes stopped, connecting to nothing, was directly under the house. The basement floor would have to be ripped up, and the various pipes were connected to fix the toilet problem in the rental suite. It was at that moment that everyone who heard the story started to wonder about who built the house.

Every house was built by somebody, but God built everything. God built this world in which we live. He is the one who put it all together, who connected the seas with the clouds in the ever-working cycle of weather. He placed the sun in the sky to warm the land and the moon to control the tides. God built all of this.

And returning to my grandparents for a moment, God was the one who enabled my grandfather to have the strength to do the physically demanding job and gave my grandmother the talents to draw the blueprints that guided the whole process.

We all make mistakes, but even when that happens, God gives us the wisdom to find the solution because he ultimately built everything on which we rely.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4