I was having my Bible Study in the book of Hebrews this morning, and somehow I chased a squirrel from how God spoke in the Old Testament to how He has now spoken through His Son, Jesus in the New Testament to. . . you guessed it, putting together a puzzle.
Anyone else’s mind venture off in thoughts like this when you are studying God’s Word?
If not, well now you know a little secret about my brain–it does–frequently!
I love a good puzzle. My favorite kind of puzzle is full of color and details because I put puzzles together by those qualities first, shape is always second place in the order of my logic. I know I just made a few of you cringe with those words! For this creative type–that’s how I approach a new puzzle.
I recently heard of a friend’s child who was putting their puzzle together without separating the outsides from the insides. Truthfully, this made me cringe a bit because we have an unwritten rule at our house. We have taught all of our kiddos to separate the pieces even if it’s a 1000 piece puzzle into the sides and the middles and then put together the puzzle’s boundaries before beginning the inside of the puzzle. I have been teaching this to my granddaughters also.
Let me state that I realize it’s not wrong to do it the other way. I just like to have the foundation in place before I add all of the middle pieces–it helps give me my point of reference.
And that thought brings me back to my Bible Study this morning . . .
God created a beautiful puzzle called life. He laid the foundation and the boundaries throughout history from creation, the fall of mankind, the forefathers of our faith, the prophets, the sacrifices, etc. Until Jesus came, however, the foundation was incomplete. It wasn’t until Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies that the puzzle had it’s cornerstone in place and a firm foundation for the church was laid. The middle pieces have been added over time including our brothers and sisters who were martyred for their faith, those who spread the gospel, those who lived their lives for Christ’s sake, and those who had a simple, child-like faith.
This puzzle will not be finished until the Jesus returns as Glorious Warrior and fulfills the rest of the prophecies in the Bible and that is a whole other discussion for another day.
But for today–I want to ask you . . . where is your puzzle piece?
Is it located in the puzzle of life that God created because you realized you were a sinner and in need of forgiveness from the only one who lived a perfect life on Earth, who freely died on the cross for our sins, who then 3 days later overcame death and arose from the grave and ascended to Heaven who is our Savior, Jesus Christ?
Is your puzzle piece laying on the outside because you are hoping your abilities or good works will earn you a place in the puzzle of life?
Are you choosing to ignore the redemption plan offered in the puzzle of life which was fulfilled by Jesus’ love for the whole world and instead, hold tightly to your puzzle piece and turn away from the love of God for all of eternity?
You have the choice to make.
Where is your piece of the puzzle?
