Pyramid-building, anyone?

Wow! Whoa! Wow! That was our basic vocabulary on our first full day in Egypt. Along with, “How did they do it?” There are several theories, but nobody really knows for sure. How?  

Five thousand years ago, without bull-dozers, cranes, heavy equipment and modern technology, the great pyramids rose up out of the sand. (No, I don’t think they were built by aliens from outer space…) For sure, this building project - these enormous monuments, tombs actually - involved huge quantities of raw materials, food & lodging for the work force, untold expense, and several decades to complete.

And multitudes of slaves. That’s what got me thinking as we circled the site on the backs of camels and horses. These colossal monuments were built on the backs of slaves (who knows how many thousands) - human beings made in the image of God, but all forced to lay down their lives to satisfy the egos of a few kings who wanted impressive tombs. Their energies, abilities, time - their very lives and limbs - used up. Whatever else they might have done with their lives was preempted by pyramid building.

Many, forced to lay down their lives for one who was considered powerful and important. The Gospel is the exact opposite: One - who is all powerful and all important - laying down His life for the many. The King who is the Servant of all - that’s Jesus.

He did it so we wouldn’t be enslaved to things that use up our lives and leave us empty-handed. He did it so we would be free to live for Him, to live for something that really matters - something that will bring blessing to our world here and now, and glory to our God into eternity. Something better than pyramid-building. 

And this brings me to the question: what am I spending my life on? Am I slaving away at something that, in the end, won’t matter? Are my energies, finances, abilities, my time, being hi-jacked and used up for something that God never intended? Something that leaves me with nothing left over for what does matter? Pyramids come in many shapes these days: from maxed-out credit cards to maxed-out calendars; there’s the ‘keep-everybody-happy’ pyramid, or the ‘live-for leisure’ pyramid. I could go on.

Pyramids can look pretty impressive, but remember, they’re just tombs for the dead -and they use up a lot of stuff in the making,  a lot of life that was meant to be lived for something better. We descended a tunnel into one of these tombs. Interesting for sure. It was also really uncomfortable; suffocating, actually, and I couldn’t wait to get into the open again. So remember, you’re not a slave, and you have a God-given life to live. Let’s live free, and live for the Lord. 

Paul