_CHOSEN AS BUILDERS_
"_Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build._"
--1 CHRONICLES xxviii. 1-10.
And how must he take heed? For it may be that the Lord hath also chosen me
to build, and the counsel given to Solomon may serve me in this later day.
Let me listen.
"_Serve Him with a perfect heart._" God's chosen builders must be
characterized by singleness and simplicity. He can do nothing with
"double" men, who do things only "by half," giving one part to Him and the
other part to Mammon. It is like offering the stock of a gun to one man
and the barrel to another; and the effect is nil. No, the entire gun! The
"perfect heart"!
"_And with a willing mind._" For the willing mind is the ready mind, and
God can do nothing with the unready. I never know just when He will call
me to add another stone to the rising walls of the New Jerusalem, and if I
am "otherwise engaged" I am a grievous hindrance to His gracious plans. He
must be willing and ready who would be a builder of the walls of Zion. And
to that man the Lord will entrust the privilege of responsibility.