19 Jan The First Skyscraper
Genesis 11:1-7 (NIV)
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
Today, in a few short hours, we will swear in a new president. The stress of Coivd 19 coupled with months of political turmoil, has much of America reeling. I don’t think it would be a stretch to characterize our nation as divided. It seems we have a habit of taking one step forward and two steps back in regard to our unity as a country. If there is ever a time, we as a nation, need to unite, that time is now. In my lifetime, I remember one season of what I would consider true unity as a nation. Unfortunately, it took terrorists crashing planes into skyscrapers to create that spirit of camaraderie.
Today’s devotion, ironically, also involves a skyscraper that was a focal point of unity. The world’s first skyscraper was the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11 tells us about a group of people who were united for a single task, to build a building that would reach the Heavens. This unity amongst the people of the earth caught the attention of God. So much so, that the Bible tells us He left Heaven to, “Go down to see” this tower that was being erected. Why did God care? Well, he made his plans clear to man in the Garden of Eden. He told Adam and Eve to replenish the earth. He didn’t want everyone concentrated in one single area when there was so much of His creation yet to be discovered.
We know how the story ends. God decides to split the people amongst various languages to get them back on track with His plan for their lives. What He did, is not what I want to focus on today, but rather a statement God, himself, made about the building of the world’s first skyscraper. In Genesis 11:6, God makes a statement about their unity. He says, “Nothing they plan to do will be impossible.” That is a STRONG statement from God.
Today, I am praying for a Tower of Babel type of unity to settle on our nation once again. I certainly don’t want it to come at the cost of another 9/11-type event. But, I do pray that God will somehow bring us back together. I understand that does not happen as a result of a politician. The type of unity I am looking for, longing for, can only come from one source, and that source is Jesus. We need Jesus to speak to the storm and tell it to be still. I know most of you are probably reading this and shaking your head thinking, this is nothing more than a lofty dream. However, I still believe we serve a God who is big enough to UNITE us as a nation one more time. To heal us of our political idolatry, to help us remember that every human was and is created equally in His eyes. I know it would take a miracle, but church…..it’s time we ask for a miracle.
Will you pray for our great nation today? Will you pray for a peaceful day? Will you pray that God heals the divide and floods us with His love in 2021? I know the God I serve is capable. The question is, are there enough of His soldiers willing to get on their knees and cry out for change? Will you believe with me today? If you read this, I want to ask you to take 15 minutes and ask God to heal our nation; to restore unity to that which is broken.