Thus, He showed me, and behold, the Lord (Adonai) was standing by a wall made to plumb and in His hand was a plumb line. The LORD (YHWH) said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Amos 7:7-8.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I give you the opportunity to build your life with a divine plumb line. Do you know what a plumb line is? A plumb line is a weight suspended from a string used as a vertical reference line to ensure a structure is centered. The plumb line always finds the vertical axis pointing to the center of gravity, and thus everything is right, justified and centered so that the building will stand strong and upright.
A construction worker does not consider a plumb line a bad thing that restricts him, but a good and desirable tool that makes the building aligned with gravity so it won’t fall or lean but will stand for many years solid and secure. It is a tool that gives the worker the wisdom of perfect alignment even in the midst of raising the walls and hanging the wallpaper when otherwise what seems the right angle could easily prove off. If you let the plumb line hang free it will always give you the vertical axis.
What is the plumb line I am talking about? It is the one with which you build your life, build your house, decorate the walls, hang your paintings, and fill your house with treasures. I am speaking of the temple in you that you are raising every day or tearing down.
When Zerubbabel was assigned to the rebuilding of My temple what did I give him? A plumb line.
Then he said to me, “This is the Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.” Zechariah 4:6-10.
Jesus talked about the plumb line but you may not have realized He was talking of the plumb line by which you are to build your life.
I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me. John 12:46-50.
Do you see the plumb line by which I measure your life? My Word. Do your thoughts, words, actions, and, above all, your heart, line up with My Words? Or are they contrary to—stout against—what I say? I told My apostle Paul, then Saul, that it is hard to kick against the goad, in other words, not lining up your life and walking with My Words but trying to proceed in a manner that kicks against the direction therein will give you a hard and difficult life.
And then there are those who are not rebelling by specific intention but just wander not knowing what I said or am saying. But this too shows a lack of diligence in the worker and is not the kind you want working on your house, for your walls will be crooked and your building will not stand.
A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:3-8.
The Word clears the wilderness, makes a smooth highway through the desert for Me to travel with you, raises up the valley and makes low the mountains and hills so that the highway keeps right on going with the rough way rolling out smooth and all being levelled in line with the plumb. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people to whom He said, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” and, “Here is refreshing and repose,” but they would not listen . . . Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level; then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies and the waters will overflow the secret place. Isaiah 28:10-12; 16-17.
That’s where level and plumb come in—both measure straightness, but with a different relationship to the horizon. “Level” refers to straightness side to side (horizontal), whereas plumb measures straightness up and down (vertical). In construction or carpentry, the term plumb refers to a line or feature that is perfectly vertical. In technical design, it represents an imaginary line that runs straight to the center of the earth. Plumb is the counterpart to level, which means to be perfectly horizontal.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6.
My Word takes care of both and is also the cornerstone of the structure and the foundation that stands forever. With My Word in your heart and in your mouth as you meditate on it day and night your life will be perfectly structured and built to last forever.
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. Hebrews 10:12-15.
How did John go before and prepare the way for Jesus when He came? By My Word. The second witness of the prophet Isaiah fulfilled:
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the LORD, make His paths straight. Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; the crooked will become straight, and the rough roads smooth; and all flesh will see the salvation of God.’” Luke 3:1-6.
My Word can make the crooked straight and the valleys and hills level and lead you on good ground.
Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10.
And you already knew that instruction, I gave it to Joshua when he faced what looked impossible but proved very possible with the plumb line and the leveler intact.
Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Joshua 1:7-8.
And why does My Word make you so successful?
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9.
I am My Word. And My Word made everything and will still build everything and has been a light to your path and a lamp to your feet since I first said, “Light be!”
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [b]comprehend it. John 1:1-5.
There is no other way to build your life, if you want it to stand up on the day of judgment, then My Word.
Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. Psalm 127:1.
It is only My Word that can be the true plumb line that never swings out of perfect alignment. My Word is wisdom, for all true wisdom comes from Me, and My Words give understanding and skillful knowledge with regard to building an upright life that will shine with solid gold in the furnace that tests your works on judgment day.
By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3-4.
Now, that being said, read the following and you will understand how to build with the plumb line of My Word so your building is found plumb on the day your reward is determined.
According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. 1 Corinthians 3:10-17.
My Words are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. I sent My Word to heal you and deliver you from all your destructions, why would you want to go against the plumb line and build anything but that which is plumb? Anything that is not on the rock foundation of hearing and doing My Word will be shaken and fall while you stand tall.
And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:26-29.
I love you. I have given you My Word and it is a very good tool for you to use to build your wonderful life.