MATTHEW 7:24-27 – “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
THEME OF THE DAY: BUILDING SAND CASTLES. The following story is not original with me. It comes from a book titled Living Life Backward by David Gibson. Before I share the story, let me plug the book. I put it in the “must read” category for every Christian. I know. There are a lot of books out there called “Christian” and we must be careful on two fronts about the books we choose to read. First, just because it claims to be “Christian” doesn’t make it so. Next, make sure the book isn’t a “Christian self-help book” that is all about you. The criteria we should apply to buying and reading any so called “Christian” book is two-fold. First and foremost is it God-centered making much of Christ and the Gospel? And is it rooted in scripture throughout, not just a verse or two taken out of context? This book meets both criteria and now the story.
Gibson writes, “Not long ago I was building sand castles on the beach with my daughter. With some success we built a large castle, dug a moat around it, and surrounded it with smaller castles and turrets decorated with shells. She was proud of her work, and we were absorbed in our task. But eventually – and to her surprise – we had to retreat as the tide encroached and the waves engulfed our handiwork. The foaming water returned our project to a knobby patch of ordinary beach. How long do sand castles last? And how much control do we have over the castle we have constructed? We build for a short time only, and always subject to forces beyond our control. That is what our lives are like.”
Tie the story into the scripture of the day. We will either build our spiritual lives on the solid rock foundation of Christ by obedience to His Word or a foundation of sand by merely hearing His Word but not doing His Word. And this is the ever-present danger facing us. Obedience builds a life of stability that keeps the tides of changing circumstances and difficult situations from “washing away” our faith into the “sands” of doubt and fear. If we are not doers of the Word, we are building spiritual sand castles that will be easily washed away by circumstances and difficult situations.
So, when it comes to our spiritual lives, are we building sand castles? Let’s make sure the Word of God is finding its way from our heads to our hearts to our wills in active obedience. It is that process that prevents our spiritual lives from residing on a beach not the rock Christ Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, help me lay a firm foundation for my life on the Rock of Your Son.”
QUOTE: “If we build a spiritual foundation on anything but Christ it will not sustain us.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim