Will The Center Hold?

At camp one summer, a friend Peter Rice told us about his travels to the 101 Tower in Taipei, Taiwan. It is currently the tallest building in the world.

After a trip up the fastest elevator in the world, Peter said he was most amazing feature of the tower was a massive golden ball that was suspended in the middle of the room. He was curious to why they would go to all the effort to drag a 730 ton ball up 88 floors?

After asking some of the guides, he was shown a brochure that said the reason for the giant ball is it serves as a mass damper. A mass damper some type of huge weight located in the center of building that helps control movement caused by wind or earthquakes. With out this structure, movement on or in the building could cause vibrations that could rip the building apart. The damper is a sable point that helps the building deal with the stresses placed on it.

For the Christian the mass damper in our lives should be the word of God. It should be a central stabilizing point in our lives that help us deal with the stresses placed on us. Those that try to survive the storms of life without God’s word will find themselves pulled apart. Bible study may take time and effort but it will help to keep us stable in an ever changing world.

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Ecclesiastes 12:10

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