¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone”

From the time our son was little he enjoyed building things with Lego. He started out building walls to keep his little Lego men inside. He told imaginative stories of good guys and bad guys, of kings and aliens, of great big cities. He would play on the floor for hours, and as he got older his buildings and stories be-came more elaborate. He insisted that each peg on each block of Lego be filled, connected to something else.

In many ways, as adults we live Lego lives. We build houses and walls to keep those we love in and those of whom we are afraid, out. We build offices and places to work where earning a living becomes the center of our lives. We build vacation homes, motor homes, boats and condos where we go to get away from it all. We build churches where people can come to serve God, so that when we’re not consumed with our homes and businesses and vacations, so that when we have time, we’ll have some place to go to worship God.

Our lives have become Lego-like; always adding more pieces to make the structure suit us better. If there is ever an empty Lego peg, we connect one more thing, never allowing it to remain empty. Our Lego-lives are as full as they can possibly be.

The problem with our structured Lego lives is that we leave very little or no room for God to add to anything. We have taken over the job of creator, master designer, and engineer. We are so busy filling up each Lego peg that we have no room left for what God may want us to do. 

Think of your life as an eight peg piece of Lego. Each peg represents an area of your life: family, spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings, work, personal finance, school, friends, internet, home maintenance, home repair, hobbies, vacations, volunteering, church, God. You can probably add to this list.

As the church heads into a new year, which of these pegs are you willing to free up so that you have more time for God? What are you time are you willing to free up so God can build something new in you life through this church? Congregation say they want to grow, they want to reach out to people, to serve Christ; how-ever, churches are made up of people with plugged up Lego pegs. How can we expect God to grow our churches if we leave no room for God to actually build the church through us? How can our Lego lives be freed up for God in 2012? 

While giving thanks to God for another year of life, pray about what God might be asking you to give up so you will have more room for God and the church. Then, come tell me about it. Come share your imaginative stories of what God can build in this church, with your time and help.

 Yours in faith, hope and love.

Pastor Sue