The Punch List

  John 19:30,

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

It’s over 20 years ago now that my husband and I built the house we are in. Oh, not us, ourselves, we had a contractor do it. My husband did design it, and we both added our input for the colors, flooring, fixtures etc. We compromised on the things we did not agree on, and everything went pretty smoothly. We signed the contract, put no money down, and went on a vacation to Florida to visit family and friends. When we returned to PA, we went up to see the property because we had cleared some of it, and wanted to see if it was enough, or did we need to put in more ‘sweat equity’.

We were shocked to find the contractor there already digging the foundation! We said,”what are you doing? we didn’t even give you the down payment yet!’

He said, ‘well, my other job had a delay and I wanted to keep the guys working. Is it OK?’

We said , of course! And that is pretty much the way the building went all the way through. I prayed every day for the workers safety and a good outcome. When the house was finished we gave the builder a picture with this verse on it; Psalm 127:1 ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it’.

Now, me being the curious soul that I am, I would continuously visit the site and ask questions of the builder whenever we were there watching the progress. I learned a lot about the names of different tools, the length of time you must wait for concrete to dry, and why you can only build a deck out so far without supports holding it up. That kind of deck is called ‘cantilever’. One of the most interesting however, was the ‘punch list’. The contractor said rather than write notes listing the mistakes and imperfections that still needed attention before the job would be considered ‘finished’ and conform to the architect’s vision, notes were written on a board. The board would not get lost, or blow away and when the repair was made to satisfaction, a punch was made next to it item with a nail-the ‘punch list’. When all the items on the list were repaired, the contractor would declare ‘it is finished’!

We kept in touch with our contractor over the years and eventually he did give his heart to Jesus. Then he could really say when someone asked about his eternity; ‘it is finished’.

Over 2,000 years ago on a hill called Calvary, another ‘architect’ laid out the blueprints for redemption from our sinful lives. God’s plan also involved boards, nails and hammers. The difference was that the nails were not going into wood being held together to build a structure. It was nails going into the flesh and blood of His Son, Jesus! In God’s blueprint there were many items that needed to be done that were already prophesied in scriptures long before. That was the ‘punch list’. As the nails were being hammered into the wrists and feet of Jesus, the job was completed to perfection. Down to the last prophesy. Then it was announced by Jesus; ‘it is finished’!

Any carpenter would know those words indicated that everything the architect expected to be done, had been done to perfection. This carpenter, Jesus, knew it all to well!

Yet, one thing remains. See, if my husband and I toured the finished home and found items we did not approve, and refused to pay the contractor, he would be very disappointed, and would have lost some money. God has a much more tragic situation. His Son was killed brutally so we could accept forgiveness for our sin and be reconciled to God the Father. If we don’t accept His work on the cross, the painful death of God’s Son-was in vain!

Our contractor may have been out additional time and money to re-do what we wanted on the house. God lost His Son!

So, on this Friday, we call ‘good’, think about your own ‘punch list’. You know the one I mean. The secret list you carry in your heart of all the ‘little’ things that still bother you. Temper, gossip, anger, unforgiveness, selfishness, grumpy attitude….. Our ‘punch list’ is usually a long one. Then think of the carpenter who ‘repaired’ all of those items on the punch list, with two boards, one hammer and three nails! So sacrificial, we can do no less than give Him our lives. Than we can truly say for ourselves; ‘it IS finished’!

How about your ‘punch list’? Are you working on putting the nail into that board to declare…’it is finished’?