The Cornerstone

The other day when I was leaving my father-in-law's house, he walked me out.  As we walked out, we had to side step a large "brick."  I made a comment about the rock that looked more like a solid cinder block.  He told me that the piece was the cornerstone to their old home.  This got my attention.

He told me that in 1916, when he was one year old, the house they lived in, burned to the ground.  His parents re-built on the same property but over-extended themselves financially and could not maintain the home.  The were forced to move into an older home that he described as "falling apart"  in Bartlett, Texas.  In 1948, they tore that home down.  When all was said and done, his mother, Essie Sullivan kept the cornerstone. 

They re-built the home keeping the cornerstone as a reminder of the times they had passed together as a family.  When his parents passed away, he maintained possession of the corner that now sits in his yard.  I often wondered about this "brick" and after 9 years of being in this family, I have finally come to know the significance of this stone.  Oh don't get me wrong, it's not strategically placed or displayed...it's just there. 

It made me think of that word...Cornerstone.  The concordance in my Bible defines cornerstone as: the first or most important stone laid when constructing a building.  Can you imagine the weight of a house being on that cornerstone.  The importance of that particular piece is amazing. 

That is what Christ is to us....our cornerstone.  He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders then he went to the cross taking that weight off of us. 

My father-in-law held on to this corner stone that is over 75 years old as a reminder of the times they survived.  We have survived our own times because Christ took on our sins, He truly is our cornerstone. 

[You are] members of God's household, build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whold building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.  Ephesians 2: 19-22