“As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)

Have you ever seen a house get constructed all in one step? If you have, there are probably some construction firms that would really want to talk to you. But outside the science fiction world, I think we all can see that building a house takes time. The site has to be cleared, the foundation dug out, material ordered, and all that happens before the actual building process begins. Building a house takes time. Even after the frame is constructed and the structures starts to take the form of a house, countless items would still need to be completed in order to consider it a finished home. Today’s scripture refers to us, the body of believers in Jesus Christ, as a spiritual house. We are being built by the master craftsman and creator of all life to be holy and set aside for His purpose. But just as a physical house cannot be constructed in one step, our spiritual houses will also be built sequentially – step by step.

We are all a living breathing work in progress. Yes we do some things well, and struggle in other areas. But God is still building us, our spiritual house may have already taken form, and yet God is still adding material and cutting off the rough edges. In fact, our final and completed spiritual home will not be ready until the return of our savior, Christ Jesus. So yes, we follow God’s word and do our best to be an acceptable spiritual sacrifice through Jesus. And yes, we are still going to have sin in our lives. But rest assured, God is not done shaping your spiritual home yet. He is still placing the living stones exactly where He needs them.