Square, Plumb, Level, and True

 

This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” (Amos 7:7-9 ESV).

 

Many of you know how much I enjoy construction and woodworking in specific. I have worked on many projects, some of which were small individual “crafts” while others were large projects involving construction of 20,000 square feet and multiple stories. When doing some of the larger projects it was always essential to prioritize getting things “square, plumb, level, and true.” As you can see from the picture, something is definitely not right!

 

The picture is a bit deceiving since the building is actually “plumb.” The photo was taken to make the parking lot seem level, which it is not. Let me make sure we’re all on the same page before I go on. These words (square, plumb, level, and true) all mean something different. In our reading the prophet, Amos, says God sets a spiritual plumb line among his people. A plumb line is a string with a weight at the bottom, used by builders to make sure walls are vertically straight. “Square” means that all angles are 90 degrees, which is especially important for walls. “Level” is a reference to the horizontal position of any part of the construction. In the case of the photo, the parking lot is off-level. And, “true” simply means straight rather than curved or bent.

 

There are those times when our spiritual lives can get out of “plumb.” Often in life we experience rejection, so we build up bricks that isolate us from God and others. These bricks can include sadness, self-pity, inferiority, insecurity, and discouragement. They are all held in place by unbelief. We lack faith in Christ’s power to heal our rejection and bring good from all things. Further, our lives can be out of plumb when we are rebellious. These “bricks” can be hostility, conceit, superiority, competitiveness, stubbornness, resentment, and bitterness. Of course, pride is the mortar that holds them in place. These bricks are misshapen and lopsided. We can’t build straight spiritual walls with them.

 

In any case the “plumb line” to measure is the Scripture and the tool we need to correct our situation is the grace of forgiveness offered through Christ as we are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. How’s the construction in your life?