So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Eph 2:19-22 (ESV)
I used to enjoy jigsaw puzzles as a child. I could not wait to rip open the box and start working on the picture inside. My first puzzle was the five piece wooden kind in a wood frame. They were simple to complete because the pieces where huge. As I got older I would try more difficult puzzles until I graduated to the 5000 piece variety. You had to be a real connoisseur of puzzles to tackle one of these monsters.
The basics were always the same, start with the straight edges, match the color groups, and then start to work on individual images inside the completed frame. Nothing was more frustrating than a missing piece. The gapping hole where that last piece should be stares back at you every time you look at the puzzle and you know it will never be complete unless that piece is found. You can not send away for missing pieces at a missing piece factory, you just have to discard the puzzle or live with it being incomplete.
It is unfortunate that many lives are left unfinished on life’s table because they refuse to accept the missing piece that would make their life complete. Someone once said we have a God shaped piece missing within us. No matter what we try to force into that space it will not fit properly. It would be just like forcing a piece into the puzzle that just does not belong. Jesus is that missing piece that completes an otherwise unfinished life.
Finding the Right Piece
Life is much like that interlocking puzzle. Each piece has to be put into its proper place to complete the over all picture. The designer of the puzzle had a specific pattern from which he cut out the tiny pieces and then scattered them around. God is the master puzzle maker and He has spread His pieces throughout the world and is working toward bringing them together so the world can see the finished product. The puzzle looks like a mess inside the box and spread out all over the table top but it begins to take on character as each piece is fit into its proper place. You can not force a piece to fit where it does not belong because the piece next to it will not fit either and the whole puzzle will lose its focus and pattern.
