Scripture:  1 Peter 2:6-8

6For it stands in Scripture:  “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  7So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Observations:

In the Scripture God says He has a plan that involves His people of Israel, “Zion” — to lay down a chosen and precious cornerstone.  Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.  There is honour for those who believe.

Even though they others reject God’s chosen One, He will still become the “cornerstone” from whom their lives will be evaluated.  For those who do not believe in God’s cornerstone this “person” becomes a stumbling block; for they disobey God’s word.

Application:

The “cornerstone” is an architectural term.  The cornerstone becomes the reference point for the whole building.  What are you building?  A life?  A family?  A career?  An organization?  A nation?

Our culture brings tremendous pressure for the person of faith to live an unintegrated life.  Our culture treats faith as an appendix that should be surgically removed if it seems to cause us too much trouble. There is a temptation for leaders (Perhaps you don’t think of yourself as a leader, but you are;  the most difficult person for you to lead is yourself.) to make decisions seeking honour and some kind of vision of success without looking to Jesus.

If we buy the lie we will stumble over Christ and find that we are offended by Him.  We are so taken by the beauty of our own lofty visions that we stumble over the rough stone  on the ground right in front of us.

Seek the grace to obey His Word, and live your life with the confession “Jesus is Lord” as the reference for all the designs of your life.  We need the Joseph Principle(See the story of Joseph in Exodus), to trust that character forged through persistent obedience to God is the better payoff.  Looking to Jesus as the cornerstone of my life creates a longview and protects me from the seduction of short-term gains bought through rejection of Jesus and His ways.

Prayer:  

Heavenly Father have mercy on me.  Extend my view of life by giving me the grace to trust Jesus today.  He is the cornerstone of my faith and my life.  AMEN.