"Our Cornerstone" September 8 Readings: Isaiah 27-28, 1 Corinthians 10:23–11:16, Psalm 105:9–15, Proverbs 22:13–14

  

Reading the Bible in 2025

Each day this year, we will read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a portion of the Psalms, and a part of Proverbs. By the end of the year, you will have read the entire Bible. We read this way to give you a bit of variety. 

NOTE: If you get behind, do not give up. Read today's readings and try to catch up when you have a chance. The goal is not to "accomplish a task" but to meet God in his word. Read the word. Also, if you are short on time, READ GOD'S WORD and skip my devotional!

Bible Readings: Isaiah 27-28, 1 Corinthians 10:23–11:16, Psalm 105:9–15, Proverbs 22:13–14

    Scriptures linked to Bible Gateway in ESV version 

Daily Devotional: Our Cornerstone

During the many years I was on the Executive Board for the Iowa Baptist Convention, I noticed a trend. It seemed as if half or more of the churches that were being planted in our state were naming themselves "Cornerstone Baptist Church." I recommended (tongue-in-cheek) a moratorium on the name. It isn't a problem anymore. Now churches are using much hipper names. In reality, though, there can be few names better for a church than Cornerstone. It is rooted in Isaiah 28:18 (and other verses), which says:

Look, I have laid a stone in Zion a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;

the one who believes will be unshakable. 

God has set down for his people a foundation for their nation, a cornerstone, one tested and tried. We find out in the New Testament that the true cornerstone for our lives is Jesus Christ - he is the one tested by the suffering of the Cross who provided the eternal foundation for our lives.

A cornerstone was the key to any building in that culture. For us, a cornerstone is generally only cosmetic, something with a plaque commemorating the building of the building. We dig footers and pour concrete foundations for our buildings. Buildings in that day rested on the cornerstone. It was large, heavy, and stable. The weight and structure of the building rested on it. If the cornerstone was weak, or misplaced, or wobbly, the building would not stand strong. 

There is only one foundation for our lives. We can try to establish our lives on money, but that foundation will crumble. Entertainment is fun (duh), but it is no lasting or firm foundation for our lives. Ambition, fame, or anything this world offers cannot be an adequate foundation for our lives. But Jesus is the cornerstone. the sure foundation for our lives. 

Why, when there is one foundation, one precious, tested stone on which our lives can be safely and permanently founded, do we so consistently seek the wobbly, weak stones of this world that give no security? Why? 

Father, may your Son be the foundation for my life, the cornerstone!

 

Consider God's Word:

Which of these four passages spoke most clearly to you today? 

Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed and dealt with that was revealed in one of these passages? 

Is there something in your life that needs to change?

Is there a struggle in your life that one of these passages spoke to? 

Of course, we will all SAY that Jesus is the Cornerstone of our lives, but what is the real foundation for you? What do you live for? What drives your existence?