Psalm 127:1a
Unless the Lord builds the hose, they labor in vain who build it.
There’s a golf course behind the apartment complex that Kristie and I live in right now. Whenever we take our dog out to do his thing, we can’t help but to notice the large house directly across from us on the golf course. It’s huge. Beautiful bricks line the four floors of what looks like a castle. There’s a huge back porch on the second level. It’s shaded by the third and forth floor balconies. The place is truly a mansion.
For all the times that Kristie and I have stood out back staring at it, I don’t think we’ve ever seen a light on inside the house. We’ve never seen anyone enjoying a barbeque on the back porch, a football game in the yard, or even seen a car in the driveway. In fact, as far as we can tell, nobody lives there at all. It’s such a shame. All that house… just sitting there empty.
Solomon applied the same idea to a person who toiled his whole life to make something of himself, but refused to allow God’s hand to be a part of the process. I can’t count the number of young people I know who have traded in their relationship with the Lord for friends, jobs, sports, or the opposite sex. They never did it to be selfish, or to purposely ignore the Lord. They were simply trying to build a better life for themselves. Yet, as Solomon so wisely put it, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
You’re number one priority today should be to seek after God. You should desire Him more than anything else. Whenever you make the decision to do something your way or to prioritize something else over God, you give up the better for the mundane. You sacrifice God’s way for your own. Your labor is in vain.