Builder Bees
Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 3:5-15
We are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Honeybees are great builders. Inside their hive they make honeycombs consisting of hundreds of six-sided cells. These are the basic building blocks of beehives. The amazing geometry of these cells maximizes storage space while minimizing the wax needed for a stable structure. Beeswax is an ingenious blend of nectar, pollen, saliva, and other ingredients produced by worker bees to form the walls of the cells, which keep their shape in both heat and cold. While these cells are used mainly to store honey and some pollen and nectar, some of the cells are also used as nurseries for eggs and larvae.
Hive building is a tribute to the bees’ ability to work well together. Each bee takes up its role in the building process.
A tragic contrast to this is our struggle as human beings to build caring communities. Jesus came to reverse our faulty construction habits by reconnecting people to his Father and to one another. Yet we often fail to practice what he taught us. In place of humbly serving with each other in caring, harmonious, constructive ways, for example, the Christian community gets distracted by competing and comparing and by excluding and neglecting one another.
Are you a co-worker with God in building a community with others? In what ways is God calling you from self-service to serving him with others?
Thank you, God, for the firm foundation you have made for us in Christ. By your Spirit, direct us to care for each other as we serve to build up the body of Christ. Amen.
About the author — Don Byker
Don Byker has been a pastor since 1984 in various churches and institutional settings. Don and his wife, Donna, are the parents of four adult children, two of whom are married. Donna and Don are also the glad grandparents of three granddaughters. Currently Don is serving in a rural church in Michigan full of gardeners.
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