Are you aware that God has a blueprint for each of us? His blueprint is the Bible (or “God’s Word”). Its pages contain the instructions for life, your life. It tells us where we came from and what our future will ultimately be. It gives us wisdom and guidance as well.
Of course, it is not written in common instructions like ‘open the left door for happiness’ or ‘close your eyes when looking at the sun to prevent blindness.’ Yet it is written in a way that anyone, at any point in time, whether in the past, the present day, or the future, could read and understand it. In order to read God’s Word in this manner, naturally it is necessary for you to have a desire to understand it, especially the deeper truths and meanings within it.
When I was young, I used to enjoy wandering through homes and apartments under construction. Back then, we could freely do so when the construction workers were gone for the day. There weren’t all of the legal issues of liability, theft, etc., that would prevent one from doing this like there are today. It was fun to try to figure out what each area was going to become (closet, bedroom, bathroom, etc.), as well as watching how the building was being constructed.
Even to this day, it still amazes me how all the elements of various construction work come together. Something as simple as building a wall frame with a space for a window somehow works out right each time.
While I’m not totally inept at carpentry or technical work, I can’t just pick up several pieces of wood and build a simple structure or frame in a single attempt. I seem to always cut something wrong (yes, I measure twice before cutting once!). This usually happens because my original design was incorrect, resulting in my measurement being wrong and my cut therefore being off. Now if I had sat down and contemplated what I was going to build first, and ultimately created a drawn plan, I probably would have had better results.
A Blueprint is an Essential Guide
On a larger-scale project, such as a house or other building, plans like this are usually called blueprints. Before computers were used to design a building, all work had to be drawn by hand. It was then transferred to a piece of light-sensitive paper that would ultimately turn blue, leaving the drawn design (floor plan) in white and eventually white paper with lines that became blue (hence a blueprint). Today, the blue paper and blue lines are gone, and the term blueprint (when used) is applied to almost any type of printed floor plan and drawing.
It has always impressed me how detailed the specifications are when a blueprint or design is made. When the building where I was working was remodeled, I used to pore over the blueprints used during construction. Each element of construction had its own floor plan: electrical, plumbing, climate control, refrigeration, etc.
There were detailed instructions on where each item was to be moved, installed, relocated, or removed entirely—all the way down to the exact inch in many instances.
There was rarely any generalization, or ‘leave it to the contractor to decide.’ Of course, there must be exactness and precise instructions, or the electrical outlets would be in the wrong places, floors would be crooked, doors wouldn’t open or close, windows wouldn’t fit, heat or air conditioning would blow into walls, or into a closet, and water or sewer pipes might go through the room instead of inside the walls surrounding it!
If you were to pick up a blueprint for a complex high-rise building and try reading it straight through, you would have difficulty understanding everything it contained (unless you had prior instruction), or, more importantly, the desire to really understand it.
As stated in the beginning, God’s Word is the blueprint for our life. God wants us to seek Him and ask Him how to really read and understand His Word. It is not a nice piece of literature to read like poetry, but rather, our moral and spiritual guide and direction from childhood to the grave. And not only are we to read God’s Word, He wants us to obey it.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was” (James 1:22-24).
“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Understanding God’s Word Comes When We Personally Know Him
Anyone can simply read the words of the Bible, but only God can open your eyes to understand it. He wants to know if you are serious about understanding His Word. A lot of individuals are not serious about God’s Word, and they readily pull verses out of context to try to prove that the Bible makes no sense. (Actually, many books appear nonsensical when sentences are pulled out of context.)
Even a blueprint for a simple room will make no sense if someone begins to add or subtract lines, or change the measurements given for a particular wall. That’s why we must ask God for discernment and understanding when reading His Word, and the works of others that teach or explain His Word.
To really understand God’s Word, you need to know God Himself, and to have His Son Jesus working in your heart and abiding within you.
If you want to really know Him better and fully obey His commandments, it is necessary to surrender your life to Him. The Bible is a blueprint for the house God wants to build that will last for eternity. And that house (dwelling place) is you, if you will let Him do this. If you want this house that we have the blueprint for, then you have to let God the Master Builder do the work. If you remain in the house you are in now, it will eventually disintegrate and return to the earth it came from and be lost forever.
God’s Word, the blueprint for a dynamic life is already made and the choice is yours: knowing God and having a home made for eternity, or continuing on with your own plans, and no home for eternity.
[Additional image credit: Featured image (when applicable) by findjeannie on Pixabay; Opening photo by Wokandapic on Pixabay]
