It was he who "gave gifts"; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12, GNT

 

When I bought my first home, my brother-in-law told me that there are three essential things when buying a home, namely location, location and location. As believers, we also need three things if we want to be on the team that is building God’s home on Earth: be prepared, be prepared and be prepared.

 

It brings us back to yesterday’s verse about erecting a building. Just as a building is constructed from its foundation to its roof, the body of Christ, his church, needs to be built in the same way. Those of us who believe in his message all contribute to the building of this home. Take note that when we talk about the church, it is not about a particular denomination, but about the body of Christ as it becomes visible everywhere in the world.

 

In our suburb, some houses are being built or renovated. On our usual morning walk, my wife and I enjoy watching the builders go about their work. Many a morning, we are stunned to see how skilled they are. The modern building techniques are fascinating.

 

In Ephesians 4:12-13, Paul tells us how necessary it is for every believer to be prepared and skilled in faith and knowledge, to help the church “become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature.” Building the church is not simple – we should know precisely what is needed. To reach such a high level of readiness and skill, we should all undergo an apprenticeship. To help us with this, Christ gave us skilled tradesmen like prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to show us how to build up the body of Christ.

 

And that is not all – we have been given a wonderful manual, filled with detailed descriptions of how this building should be constructed – we call it God’s Word. In those pages, we find clear directions, but they require diligent study. Above all, God provided us with a Master Builder to give us exact instructions.

 

Prayer: Dear Lord, we pray that you will open your Word to us more and more, so that we can grow to become mature believers. Amen.