Relying On The Plumb Line

Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight.

Amos 7:7

Until recently, I had not lived through a construction project since our “Jericho Room” was completed when Kali was around five years old. We actually marched around a play wall made of red cardboard blocks and sang the Jericho song before the actual room’s wall came tumbling down.

Recently Dan, who built the Jericho Room, and Dave, his buddy from church, stopped by to brainstorm on a specific project I had in mind that quickly turned into several projects.

I could not decide how my idea could or should be done. We looked at the space many times, but I could not “see” what they envisioned and agreed upon. The industrial, architectural, mathematical, technical part of my brain is not wired like a builder’s, and it never will be! I was so grateful for Dan’s and Dave’s strengths and really appreciated their expertise, but in order to move forward, I needed to see a visual picture. Dave quickly drew it out on a piece of drywall, and suddenly I was on the same page—er, wall—with them!

In the book of Amos, God gives a vision to Amos. In Isaiah 28:17, the plumb line refers to righteousness. It’s comparable to a carpenter’s level that construction men use often to check whether things are straight before the final nails go in. God was using a plumb line to show His people through Amos how their crookedness had caused them to fall short of His holiness.

God, by His Spirit, uses His Word as a plumb line in our lives to show us His righteousness and how we need to be made straight. The Good News is that Jesus truly made us straight and leveled us with His death on the cross!

As today’s verse says, God used the plumb line to see if the wall was “still straight.” His Holy Spirit in us continues to steady us when our faith gets shaky or our lives get out of balance so that we can maintain our clear vision of Him.

God’s Word is a plumb line for us to keep us on His level path. His construction will bring the best outcome.