Jesus used the comparison of rock and sand in explaining to His listeners the importance of a proper foundation. They lived along the Jordan. Torrential rains would come suddenly. Floods would burst over the banks and sweep houses, people, and animals away. Rock and sand were predominate in their homeland. They would understand His words.
These two houses probably looked much the same on the outside. It was not the outward appearance that made the structures sound or weak. The security of the houses lay in their foundation.
The rains came as they often do. The builder whose house was built with a rock foundation was still standing when the storm passed. Sadly, the builder whose house was built upon a base of sand watched his house crash and be swept away.
Thought For Today:
We are like these houses. Scriptures often refer to people as houses or temples. We may appear outwardly to be secure. It may seem that we have riches, wisdom, education, knowledge about many things, nice cars, health and worldly grandeur. All that looks great from the outside. But that isn’t really what will sustain us in the storms of life. All the money and grandeur education can bring will not bring back a lost loved one. We all have experienced financial storms that change our lives. We have health issues that material things have no control over.
It is when the storms come. And in my experience, they will come. We don’t know what or when, but they will visit. It is then, we find that everything we hope to be or think we are, holds no weight and will not support us in the storms that crash into our lives. The storms of life cannot be halted with money, good friends, big houses, etc. Those things are temporary. Even friends can be gone in a moment. Friends who stay through are a blessing from God. That kind is never guaranteed when trouble comes.
It is only the sure, promised, protection, grace, mercy and forgiveness of a Savior that still stands with us before, during and after our storm passes. The winds will calm. Everyone who was willing to stay with you will go back to their lives. It will be quiet again. Loss has been suffered. Now comes the assessment of what is gone and what is still intact. So what foundation is Jesus speaking about?
It is the strong foundation of the Son of God. The Sacrificial Lamb. It is Jesus Christ that holds us firm in the storm. It is not only the hearer but the doer of the word who will survive both here and eternally. When it is quiet again, it is He who will catch the tears. It is He who will sit with us through the night. It is He who will lift us back to our feet. It is He who will give us reason to continue on this journey called life.
The life without obedience to the word of God and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is likened to the house built on sand. The storms come and there is nothing to hold it up, nothing left when the winds cease and the rain stops. Shattered and torn and washed down river without hope. The support of bedrock…missing.
Scripture For Today:
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” (NLT)
Proverbs 10:25
25 When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation. (NLT)
© 2015 Kathy Ledbetter all rights reserved