Measure Twice …

When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth -Proverbs 8:27‭-‬29 ESV

God did not begin Creation until He had begun with wisdom.

It makes sense. Jesus, also called the Wisdom of God, gave us hints:

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Luke 14:28

God is smart. He planned and then built.

God’s Greatest Work

However, His universe building pales in comparison to His greatest work: Making us new.

We must remember that right relationship of us with Him was always His goal, a holy people who would give Him glory and love as He lavishes love on us.

… Cut Once

My dad, like Jesus and His earthly father, is a carpenter. He instilled in me the axiom “Measure twice, cut once.” That is, take time to accurately prepare so that you are not constantly fixing mistakes.

We should do the same with Jesus. The passage quoted above is a about the cost of discipleship.

Do we realize we must take up our cross (Luke 14:27)?

Do we realize we must radically change our thinking and actions, that we must tell a fallen world they are destined for destruction, and that it could cost us financially, materially, even bodily (basically Matthew 5-7 and … much of what Jesus said)?

If we do not wisely count the cost, we will be constantly re-cutting things from our lives, things that should have been done. We may even finding ourselves asking for forgiveness from God again.

Let God finish the work He started. Trust the Master Builder to cut and rebuild, and realize what it may cost you.

It cost Him Jesus.