Just Building Steps or Crafting a Stairway to Eternity?

There once was a cathedral being built in a large city. There were two brick layers hired to build the walkways and steps both front and back into the cathedral. One day a rather curious and odd man stopped as he walked by. He stood there observing the two bricklayers for a few minutes, one working on the front steps and the other on the back. Then he walked over to the bricklayer working on the front steps and asked the man what he was doing. The bricklayer replied rather shortly, I am laying bricks. Ok, the passerby answered, but what are you making with the bricks? Well, steps, can't you see that, came the somewhat annoyed response. Ok, but why are you building steps the passerby persisted. Because it is my job the irritated bricklayer snipped back. Ok, I hate to be nosey but why do you do your job? By now the bricklayer had stopped working, turned around, and glared at the passerby with annoyance and disgust. So I can earn money so I can eat just like everyone else he responded in a clearly exasperated tone. He then added, do you have any more stupid questions before I get back to work? The passerby looked a little concerned, as though he had not wished to anger the bricklayer, but preceded to state, well, if you don't mind, I do have one more question. Why do you eat? At that the bricklayer jumped up looked the passerby in the face and said so I can have energy to work you idiot. Now I am done with your ridiculous questions, my mortar is drying, he retorted as he turned back to his stack of bricks.

The tall lean passerby stroked his chin as if in thought for a few moments and then walked around the corner to where the other bricklayer was working on the back steps. He paused for a moment, then cleared his throat and asked, pardon me sir but what are you doing, he asked. With a flashing smile this bricklayer turned around and exclaimed with great enthusiasm, I am building a stairway to eternity! A bit taken back, the passerby, responded in a slow hesitant tone, but aren't you just laying bricks? Well, true enough, replied the second bricklayer, but you see these bricks are making stairs to this magnificent cathedral that will awe and inspire those who enter to talk with our creator and, if they let Him, He will change their hearts so they can live for eternity. So you see, these steps lead to eternity! He smiled broadly. Well, I never quite thought of it like that said the passerby again stroking his chin in thought. Then he asked this bricklayer, why do you work laying bricks? Well, came the reply again with a twinkle in his eye, of course I need money to feed my family, but mostly, I like helping people. Steps, help people get where they want to go, fences keep people from fighting over unclear boundaries, and then there are foundations for houses which give people a place to live. But of course the best, is working on churches, then I get to help people live forever, he exclaimed with a broad grin! I lay bricks so I can change eternity! The passerby stood for a few moments, pondering the second bricklayer's enthusiasm and amazingly high aspirations. Could it be true? He wondered to himself as he walked away in awed and puzzled silence.

If you had to be a bricklayer, which one would you want to be? What do you think it would be like to be the first bricklayer? I imagine his life might seem a bit like this: Life is a chore, another duty to be completed and a series of difficulties to be endured. The purpose, survival and if you can, to get a little enjoyment whenever and wherever you can because you know it will not last. Oh of course you are a good person, you try to do what is right and definitely avoid all the sinful things, even though they do look pretty good sometimes. But you are a man determined not to mess up, to not make any big mistakes. After all, your practiced skill is what landed you the job working on the church. It is actually one of the better times in your career; you have been recognized for your good work, finally. You are getting paid a little more and getting a reputation for being better than most bricklayers. That's nice, but it is still just a grind to pay the bills. But if you survive, somehow you'll be rewarded with heaven, then you can be happy, then you don't have to deal with all the stresses of this draining, difficult, treadmill existence. For you heaven is essentially, freedom from pain and discomfort, well, that is the part you are most counting on anyway.

But if you were the other bricklayer, the one working on the back steps, how might you experience your life? You too are laying bricks; in fact you are sharing the same job with the first bricklayer but some how it is different for you. For you this job is also a highlight in your career, however, the highlight is not the extra pay or the recognition of your skill, that is nice, but beyond that you feel very honored and blessed that God would give you the opportunity to be part of such a magnificent project. For you, these steps are holy, you take great care in laying each brick, thinking of the friends and neighbors who may walk on them going in and out of this cathedral. It is awe inspiring, almost an earthly throne room for God himself. You are moved at the thought of a child accepting Christ here and choosing to live her life for God, forever. You imagine a middle-aged drunk seeking forgiveness for all he has done so terribly wrong, and finding an amazing Celestial love so accepting so powerful, he never drinks again. For him these steps lead to an entirely renewed life. Oh sure the bricks are the same the mortar is nothing new but each job serves your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ a little differently. One ornamental fence you built was the crowning jewel on the dream home of a young couple. A foundation provided the beginnings of a warehouse where many people will work and earn money to feed their families. You look back with joy and satisfaction that you had a part in creating all of those. Life for you is a bit of an adventure, you feel God tugging on your heart leading you closer to Him and closer to a special mission He has just for you, you are not quite sure exactly what it is but you can feel it and you are both excited and a little afraid, it seems big, very big actually, too big for you to be able to do, but then you remember, it has never been you doing this, not really, you pray every morning that your Creator, your best friend work through you that day. And, Well, He IS God, HE can do it. You smile as peace and excitement pulse through your being.

There is a clear difference between the first and second bricklayer. But what is it exactly? They both lay bricks, use the same mortar and are very skilled. Both work to provide for themselves and their families. Both are hardworking and dependable but the second one has something more, something that changes his whole experience in life, something that enables him to see meaning where the other sees boredom, excitement where the other finds only irritation, eternal purpose where the other sees only a pay check. They are so similar but so different. What is that special ingredient that makes such a difference?

It might be tempting to say, God, or rather believing in God, but we all have known Christians, sometimes the most faithful church goers, that more closely resemble the first bricklayer than the second. So what can it be?

The second bricklayer has two factors that his counterpart lacks. He has a strong clear vision of his God blessed purpose and influence as well as a firm commitment to getting the most out of life, a determination to hold onto the vision. He recognizes and focuses on the fact that what he builds effects the lives of others, sometimes in incredibly deep and lasting ways. Beyond just knowing in his head, he holds daily in his heart the amazing truth that he is a child of God and destined by God to do God like things. He is entirely aware that he is spending much of his time just stacking bricks but it is the reasons for stacking the bricks, the purpose served by the structures he builds, the people helped by the results of his skill, that he constantly reminds himself of. It is the benefit to others and the potential for effecting them in amazingly profound ways that motivates him and in part gives him a strong sense of a higher purpose, a purpose much greater than just earning a paycheck. But even daily reminding himself of how his work benefits others does not complete the vision and passionate purpose he has. He has a deep love for his creator and a strong desire to put a smile on the face of God. As he has come to know his Creator redeemer, he has learned a little of God's astounding love for every single person. So as he helps people around him, and makes their life better he senses the joy of Christ in what he does. It is actually very similar to a young son playing in a game and scoring the winning touchdown. Of course he likes the fact his peers think he is awesome and he appreciates all the congratulations of the fans but it is the look of great pride in his father's eyes and his heartfelt hug, that makes the son feel he has accomplished something truly special. The second bricklayer has that sense, he knows God smiles every time he lifts a brick and mortars it into place with thought and care for how it would effect one of Christ's beloved brothers or sisters.

Where there is no vision, the people perish..." Proverbs 29:18 KJV The effects of holding a celestial perspective, a vision of God's view and the extraordinary life God created us to live are profound. Just answer these questions: Which bricklayer is more likely to go home depressed? Who is more likely to inspire someone to give their heart to Christ? Who is more likely to stay in good health? (keep in mind Solomon's wisdom - a merry heart doeth good like a medicine) Which one is likely to be irritable and angry with their wife and children? Which one will have a more difficult time resisting unhealthy habits that temporarily relieve a void in their hearts? Which one will do what God asks of them out of joy in pleasing their best friend? Which one will follow God's plan for good living as a boring, difficult, tortuous set of rules that stifle his heart but hopefully earn him heaven. While neither are likely to die immediately due to their differing outlooks on life, it should be obvious that only one has a good chance at truly experiencing what Christ said was the purpose of him coming to this earth, John 10:10 "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." remember it is GOD SIZED abundant life for the only creatures He created specifically in HIS image. Can a dull drudgery of an existence, even one avoiding all major sinful habits, truly be what Christ offered His life to give us?

John 15:11 KJV "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Psalm 37:4 "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Romans 8: 16-17 KJV "....we are the children of God... joint-heirs with Christ..."

Isaiah 62:4-6 KJV "...no more be termed Forsaken...Desolate...for the LORD delighteth in thee...as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

Romans 8:37 KJV ...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

John 15:16 KJV Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you...(to)..bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. ^{Bold and underlines added}

The second piece to our happy bricklayer's outlook is his determination to get the most out of life, an unyielding commitment to hold to his vision. While that may not be as obvious, in our short story, it is that once forever continuously renewed decision to find, grab and never let go of the good in life that has helped him find the vision God has been attempting to share with him and has been the deciding factor in holding it when life pounds on him. He, like nearly everyone, has had his disappointments, his failures, times when he and what he has done go unappreciated. It is especially those times when he did his best, felt he had done a good job and the customer rails at him for doing some small mistake or claims he wanted something different that holding to the vision takes great determination. It is at times like that the vision is so hard to hold onto, so difficult to believe, but then the decision reminds him, he can either give in now, and accept a life of no greater impact or significance than just what he can accumulate for himself, or he can choose to see himself and his efforts as God does, to remember, as long as he honestly tried, his true father smiles. He reaches into his heart for the foundational truth of who he is, a man created in the image of God, and a prince in the kingdom of eternity, and like the Prince of peace himself, his efforts are not always appreciated, not always seen as good. It is his choice, his dogged determination to believe and work for the life his Creator has died to give him- a God sized abundant life, that drags him through the tough times. The times the devil sends one attack after another to discourage him, to convince him, he is just a man, well maybe not even that. A weak pathetic creature who really ought to be grateful he got a beggars meal today and should never dare to dream of something better. Satan attempts through the words of others and feelings in his heart to convince him he has nothing to offer, not real ability to change the world or the lives of people in it. It is then, when the vision is crumbling under the weight of trouble and the seductive true sounding demonic lies, that his determination rallies him for one more try, to scream out to his creator, the one who placed the vision in his soul and plead for help. His plea is desperate, he knows what drowning in the sea of lies would mean to his soul. His joy washed away, his peace overwhelmed by fear, his energy drained, and life becomes one dull shade of gray after another. NOO screams the hope his soul clings so desperately to, the hope that he counts for something truly real, important, No you can't take me, I am God's! With a sudden burst of fierce angry defiance, he screams at the demon that would drag him to his death, you won't win!! I choose to believe my creator, my savior my friend, my king. He has promised me abundant life and you can't take it!!

So there you have it, God is offering us life, life more abundant, meaningful, and amazing than we can comprehend. He is offering a life like his, with amazing accomplishments, incomprehensible devotion, vast significance, a life like the Creator of the entire universe. But even though it is a gift freely given by our True Father, we must fight for it because Satan actively tries to steal such a vision from our hearts, to destroy our soul's ability to believe the greatness of the gift our creator is truly offering us. It is not a war we have ANY chance of winning alone, our enemy has thousands of years of preparation and skill to use against us, but as we reach out and hold to the strong hands of our God, there is nothing the demon can do to take our souls. He is powerless against our Creator. Of course surrendering to our Savior, clinging tightly to Him, is sometimes a very fierce battle in deed. But even satan cannot take away our choice to follow our creator. The choice is yours, are you willing to fight for the life God created, destined you for? Day by day your life is passing, the end gets closer. That is simply a fact. There is nothing you or I can do to change that. But how you spend that time, what you do with today, is up to you. How will you spend the days you have been given? Will you just build steps or will you craft a stairway to eternity? The choice, truly is yours.