Plumb Line

My dad and I were putting tile down in our bathroom last weekend. And before we actually laid the tile me dad told me to get a "plumb line." I had heard of this before, but never in terms of laying tile. So we stretched out the line across the longest span of the bathroom into what we considered to be straight. (for purposes of illustration let's say it was perfectly straight).

We drew with blue chalk on the actual rope and then snapped it on the ground to create a nice straight blue line. I began to remove the actual plumb line. "stop!" my dad yelled. (not really YELLED but more of an exclamation) Turns out that you are supposed to leave the plumb line there the whole time.

Now the purpose of this line is to make sure that as you go down the length of the bathroom the tiles are laid in a straight line and don't slowly curve. The blue line we popped on is to make sure the plumb line is always on line. So as we went along laying tiles and making sure they were straight in respect to the plumb line. We kept checking the plumb line to make sure it was lined up with the blue chalk.

I wanted to say that Christ is the plumb line. Just like Ephesians says that he is the cornerstone. It is based on HIS perfection that we are conformed into perfection. But at the same time, the plumb line was subject to the blue chalk. So maybe Christ is the blue chalk? And the Church is the plumb line? No, maybe not.

I guess it is true that all analogies break down at some point. I guess this point was much sooner than expected...

The point is, though, that Christ is the base. He is the model. The one that we strive to imitate. The one that we are conformed to. And the one that we will be like in the end of time. So if you are trying to look like a model in a magazine or to act like your best friend or be as big as the guy next to you at the gym, I would say that you are pursuing something that is false. Not just you, me as well. We are pursuing a useless and false and probably evil goal, when we try to be conformed to anything other than Christ.

The way is straight and narrow. Even a small deviation drives us off track. I will end my rambling now, but if you're not sure as to the truth in what I'm saying, look in the Bible. It is chock full of people who have pursued false goals and been corrected (or killed). It is also full of people who pursued God and ultimately received their reward. Check it out. Let me know what you think

Maybe you have a way to make the analogy work?