Our Backs to the Wall

Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary.
Be strong and do the work.

-- 1 Chronicles 28:10

About 200 years before Jesus’ birth, construction began on the world’s largest man-made structure. The Great Wall of China, which stretches across Asia, was built to protect the Chinese dynasties against invading semi-nomadic people known to cross into the land and steal just about anything of value.

The wall’s completion was an incredible engineering feat, even by today’s

standards. After all, transporting large amounts of building materials was essentially impossible in a time before 18-wheelers, cranes and excavators. The solution was a reliance on locally-accessed resources such as stone from the mountainous regions. In some remote desert areas with few available building materials, the Great Wall was formed with soil pressed between wood, which was bound with woven mats.

Work on the wall continued into the 1600s. The result was a 4,000-mile-long monstrosity that — at its peak — was guarded by more than a million soldiers. Historians estimate that 2-3 million workers died over the centuries of construction and repair. And was it worth the immense cost and effort? For the most part…yes. Indeed, The Great Wall of China generally succeeded in repelling invaders. However, in 1644, the Manchus crossed through (but not over) the massive barrier when a Ming border general who disliked the ruling Shun Dynasty simply opened the wall’s gates. The capital city of Beijing soon fell into the enemy’s hands.

Tragedy struck when a lone individual failed to protect the heart of their great nation. Likewise, Christ-followers have a duty to protect their hearts and minds from invasive influences that can wreak havoc on their souls. That’s an important concept because what we expose our heart to is what flows out of it. Let’s consider this admonition from the apostle Paul to the believers at the church in Ephesus:

“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil,” he wrote. “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit …”

As Christ-followers, we have a duty to make the most what God gives us each day. Let’s recognize that we'll have no neutral opportunities. Moreover, it’s how we approach life that determines how we experience it.