ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY
Most of us have goals. Some of us take goals seriously, and others of us forget them as soon as we have written them down. We’ve all had that authority figure in our lives that says the infamous line, “if you write down your goals, you will achieve them.” Well, your buddy Jimmy over here has been writing down goals for years and hasn’t achieved a single one. Is that because his goals are too big? Maybe. However, my guess would be that he isn’t creating a process to achieve these goals. Sounds like you need to tell Jimmy to get some better habits, or he’ll stay 0/20 on those New Year’s resolutions.
Sometimes, you have a huge goal and think there is no way that such a small habit could have an influence on your success. We’ve all heard the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Just think about the guy who decided to build Rome! The goal of building something that magnificent had to have been daunting, but the decision to lay a stone and make a habit of it every day was the very process that made it happen.
In a sense, this habit was the first step to making Rome, Rome. So, our new quote for this idea could say something like, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it all started with laying a stone and committing to it every day.”
We all get to make that same choice when we have goals. Are we going to commit the small daily habits to get there though?
If we’re being honest, our goals aren’t anything huge like hiking Mount Everest, or running a marathon, or sailing across the Atlantic. Our Mount Everest might just be getting up before noon, or being a kind person to our family, or maybe, it’s even growing in our faith. What would it look like to take the first step towards our goals?
The Bible expands on this idea when it says,
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5).
Are we being diligent with our plans by setting good habits?
So what are your current habits building? If you repeated the things that you do now for numerous years, who would you become? Will your daily stones lead you to be the person you are striving to be? Some of you might be starting to realize that you want a different Rome. Maybe the things you have been “building” into your life aren’t panning out the way you wanted them to. Maybe you’re looking for a goal with more purpose or meaning.
Since you are this far into the article, my guess is that you either have a thing for ancient Middle Eastern architecture, or, deep down you have a real desire to know God and His purpose for your life. The amazing thing about this desire is that it is from God, and He has given us the habits to make to get us there.
Let’s make that our Rome…being men and women that know God and His purpose for our lives.
Sounds like a good goal to me, but how do we get there? Luckily, we have a sneak peak into the most important habit of ancient people who knew God extremely well. This habit was spending time learning from Jesus.
THE HABIT IN ACTION
In Luke 5:1-11, some fishermen had their first encounter with Jesus after a long, unsuccessful day of fishing. Long story short (go read it now if you can!), Jesus told them exactly where to cast their nets, and after bringing in multiple boats of fish, they knew this dude was no mere man. The men were so compelled by this miracle that they made their first commitment to their habit of knowing Him. The passage says,
“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed Him.”
What an amazing thing for Jesus to say! Here are a couple of guys who fish for a living and Jesus tells them that He wants to not only give them a new, bigger purpose, but actually use the things they had formerly built their lives on for His Kingdom! He didn’t just tell them to drop everything, but actually wanted to incorporate their desires and talents into His bigger, cosmic purpose!
But what was the habit that they decided to start? Such a simple idea, but Peter and the others made the decision there that whatever this man had was special, and they were going to make it a habit of learning from Him daily.
This small daily habit was to spend time learning to trust Jesus, a small daily denial to prioritize time with Him over anything else. Little did they know that this daily habit (stone), would mold them to be the leaders of a movement that would change the course of human history.
They followed Him everywhere and these men from the first century were overwhelmed by the character, wisdom, and authority that this man had with the people around Him. He was unlike anyone they had ever known, and in many ways, they couldn’t get enough of being with Him. He was just that polarizing in their time spent with Him.
THE CORNERSTONE
After Jesus had died on the cross, these men were still living their lives for God’s mission because of how deeply they believed and trusted Jesus. Before they knew it, others were amazed by the power these normal fishermen were displaying all because of their time with Jesus. What would they most likely attribute this power to? Probably along the lines of “I made a habit to spend time learning from Jesus.”
Peter ended up being the rock of the Church in the first century, and when standing up for Christ in front of the religious leaders of the day, he said in Acts 4,
“The stone you builders rejected which has become the cornerstone.”
Peter decided to quote a verse from nearly 700 years before Jesus’ birth about how important this man would be. He was the long awaited Savior and the most important stone anyone could build their lives on. He was able to stand in front of all these people and talk about Jesus being the cornerstone of the faith, because of his daily habit to spend time with Jesus while He was with him!
The text later says,
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
There’s our habit! How does God make ordinary men and women do great things for His kingdom? By the simple daily habit of spending time learning from Jesus.
THE CORNERSTONE CHALLENGE
The amazing thing is that this offer of spending time learning from Jesus like the disciples did is still on the table! Not only is it on the table, but it is the very habit that will help you become a man or woman that knows God and His purpose for your life. God has given us a blueprint of the stones to lay in our lives, and the things to prioritize in order to know Him. It’s up to us whether we will use His guidance and started building it into our lives. It’s an offer, that if accepted, will never come back void.
In John 7:17, Jesus says, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or I speak on my own.”
My challenge to you is the Cornerstone Challenge. If you have even the slightest desire to be a godly man or woman one day, and to know God and His purpose for your life, I dare you to start the challenge today!
So, here’s the challenge:
Option #1 - Read a verse/short passage a day —> Bulking Season (31 Day Challenge)
Option #2 - Read one chapter of the book of John a day
Option #3 - Ask a spiritual leader what they started out reading
While reading these chapters daily, I’d encourage you to do a couple of things!
1) Reach out to a friend who is further along in their faith to read with you.
2) Pray before reading each day that God would enlighten the eyes of your heart to the truth of the Gospel.
3) Ask yourself a couple of questions:
a. What does the passage teach me about who God/Jesus is?
b. What does it mean to follow Jesus?
c. What would it look like to trust Him?
I started the Cornerstone Challenge my sophomore year of college. I went in expecting to learn some things about God but had no idea how formative it would be for the direction of my life. Although it isn’t the only way to know God, it’s a great place to start.
Will you take the challenge to start this habit and begin to “build Rome” in your faith? Maybe spending time learning from Jesus is just the stone you’ve been looking for.
