Have you ever visited Washington, DC, our nation’s capital? If you have, you would have seen the Washington Monument. You can’t miss the memorial to our country’s first president. When you see this obelisk, you will notice something unusual. About a third of the way up the outside of this structure, you will observe a definite change in the color of the stones used to build it.

At an elaborate Fourth of July celebration in 1848, the cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid, and the construction began. But by 1856, the Washington National Monument Society had run out of money, and the project stopped. For twenty years, visitors to Washington, DC, saw a structure started by those who could not finish it. Twenty years later, the United States government took over and completed the upper two-thirds using stone from a different quarry, thus the noticeable color difference. Finally, in 1884, the monument was completed.

When we start something, we need to count the cost.

Luke 14:28-30 (NIV)
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Jesus says that when we follow him, we need to count the cost. Maybe you are a Christian who had a great start with Jesus, but somewhere along the way, you stopped growing. You are stalled in your spiritual journey, going nowhere. It’s time to start the construction again. God will give you all you need to do what he is calling you to do. Don’t remain as an unfinished project. Allow God to complete the work he started in your life.

Father, there was a time I was on fire for you. But that was a while ago. I am stalled. Please reignite my heart with a burning passion to follow hard after you. Please resume the building process in my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.