Illuminations – Biblical Teachings in Everyday Life

I cannot help but wonder if it’s your habit to see the teachings of our Lord in everything around you. We all know God is omnipresent and, as such, He surrounds us day-in and day out; so we easily see His hand at work shaping the events of our lives and that of others. But are we continually reminded of Biblical teachings when we look at the ordinary things in life?

It’s a well-know fact that when it comes to learning, visual aids are a powerful tool. It seems likely, then, that God would use visual aids to reinforce the Bible’s teachings so as to help us learn and then apply our new knowledge to our daily living.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been piecing together a patchwork of fieldstone to transform a 3×3 stoop into a 10×9 “patio.” Naturally, the project grew into something much larger than I ever imagined.

For the foundation, I had envisioned a 4-inch bed of sand; the “experts” convinced me to go with a 2-inch layer of chat that’s been partially ground to produce an aggregate loosely resembling concrete when mixed with water. Over the chat I was to spread a layer of sand, on which I supposedly could nestle fieldstone more easily. So we laid the chat.

Following the specs of the “experts,” I then began setting the various shapes and sizes of stone in a layer of sand covering the chat. Dave, on the other hand, decided to do it his own way-using solely chat. After laying the stones on top of the foundation, I noticed that a few of them had lost their stability-sinking down on one end as I walked over them.

When I popped out a loose one, I discovered the sand on which it was laid had shifted-in other words, the foundation had slid out from under it!

As I stood there pondering, I heard a voice from the other side of the patio saying, “When you build your house on a foundation of sand…” Oops!

In Matthew 7:26 Jesus called the man who did just that “foolish.” Why had I listened to the “experts” when Jesus knows more about foundations than anyone around?!

The patio project also became a teaching point on “love of the brethren.” The idea had been mine from the get-go, and I fully intended doing all the work-but like I said, the project grew. Before I knew it, Susan jumped in to work alongside. And then Dave joined the crew-and we were now three where there had been only one.

Doesn’t scripture talk about the strength of a cord of three strands? Doesn’t it also teach that we are to love others more than ourselves? What better way to learn these lessons than having it played out in real life right before my eyes-and to my benefit!

The clearest illustration of Biblical principle I saw in the project was in the rock itself. In stacks, the broken pieces were unattractive- irregular shapes, of varying thicknesses, dirty and not very appealing in color. But as I began to fit the curve of one stone against the curve of another, a pattern began to emerge.

By the time the spaces between the stones were filled, we had a fascinating grout pattern holding together an intricate mosaic of multi-hued fieldstone.

The transformation was awesome!

We see this same phenomenon happening in the Church every day. God hand-picks people to do His work and puts them together according to His plan. Individually, they may not accomplish a lot, but placed together as He sees fit, they create beautiful music all to His glory!

Try looking for illustrations of Biblical truth in everyday life-God will soon show them to you.