A Name for Ourselves?

Genesis 11:1 "Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
6 The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9 That is why it is called Babel--because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth."

This is the passage of scripture we studied in Youth Group 2 weeks ago. It is important that we continue to study and reread the scriptures. When I reread these verses to prepare the lesson for that night, I was surprised that some of the details I had thought were there - weren't. I had confused the story in my memory. When I asked the students to tell me about The Tower of Babel (before we had read the scripture), they told it they way I had wrongly remembered it. They thought the people were building a tower to reach God. How could He punish them for trying to reach Him?

But when you look at the verses, you see that they were trying to make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. The Tower of Babel happened not that long after the flood when God had said to "be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." (Genesis 9:1) I believe this scripture teaches that God punished them because they were

1. trying to glorify themselves,
2. disregarded God in the whole plan, and
3. were in direct disobedience to God's words after the flood.

When applying this teaching to my own life, I feel like it is wrong to ever build myself or my church up above God Himself. Do you know what I mean? Crossroads is a wonderful place to be a part of, but it is one speck in the Kingdom of God. We must remember that we are a part of God's plan - not THE PLAN. And we mustn't proceed with "churchy stuff" without checking in with God to see if it's His time and agenda. And of course, we mustn't ever move forward with a project that disregards God's words at any given time.

I feel like this is one passage of scripture that merits my time to dig deeper into the truths here. What these people did here and the response they received from God has affected every person born since that time. I want to learn from their mistakes and remember that my actions affect those around me too. A close walk with God which includes talking to Him and listening every day can help me to choose carefully and make wise decisions.

I continually need reminded to live, breathe, and think in Him...