Tear Down to Build Up

See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to

uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.

Jeremiah 1:10 CSB

My husband and I made a nostalgic trip to Texas to visit all the places we lived growing up and after marrying. We’ve been in Tennessee for 30 years, but Texas is still home!

The biggest shock was driving by my childhood home in Houston. Eleven years ago, I drove by that location, thinking it might be less than I remembered, or run down. I was pleasantly surprised it looked as good, maybe even better, than when I lived there!

Imagine my shock when we turned the last corner to see my house and the one next to it, gone! In place was a huge, gorgeous home.

Falling silent, I said, ”I’m not sure how I feel about this.” I was sad the rest of that day that my home had been destroyed.

Sometimes we need to tear things down to rebuild something better. Spiritually, we must lay our lives down and the innate self-centeredness of wanting to be “king” of our world.

God instructs Israel to conquer the evil, cruel people in the land He had promised them. They were to destroy them and tear down their pagan altars so the true God would be known and worshiped.

As believers in Jesus, our “other gods” must be laid down for Him to be King:  a dream, an unhealthy habit, a misdirected desire to be known, a fear, or anything to which we’ve become a slave, often unintentionally. Spending more time focused on that thing rather than relationship with Jesus, will make it become our “god”.

Perhaps it’s time to tear down our own altars of desires and ask God to fulfill His desires fully in us. It doesn’t mean we stop dreaming, but we submit those dreams to Him to use however He chooses.

What do you need to tear down? We can’t to walk forward until we destroy what has held us back.

Chris Adams