Building a house takes time. There are endless steps, all sequenced, specialized, and permitted. Some stages call for machinery, while others demand painstaking, knuckle-bruising labor. Expertise and exertion, struggle and time.

We’re watching this unfold in our neighborhood, cinder block by cinder block. What began as an empty lot suddenly featured a large cement pad bristling with rebar around the edges. As the days passed we watched courses of block spring up featuring openings where the windows will be. Then, PVC pipe sprouting up from the cement and out from the walls, followed by a second story, more windows, and the beginnings of a fancy roofline.

Some days there were several workers, other days none. Though clearly more of a project than a contract, the house is gradually taking shape as the weeks slide by. I have no doubt it will one day become a magnificent home . . . though I can’t predict when.

Our best takeaway from the project is how well it explains the biblical theme of sanctification. The Bible says, “Like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it.” This reveals how people who follow Jesus Christ gradually become more like the One they follow. It happens over seasons of time and involves many different contributors, but what draws it all together is the Foreman. He’s the One who makes sure we’re being built up according to God’s blueprints. That each of us is gradually becoming the kind of person Jesus would be if He were living in our shoes.

Course by course, stage by stage, layer by layer, room by room. It’s a deliberate, specific, and sequential development, not done in a day, week, or year. Sanctification spans time and digs deep, but it’s worth it. Every bit of our growth provides a new blessing to family, friends, neighbors, and future generations. And best of all, we get to know our Builder in the process.