Friday 11 October, 2019

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

This passage often reminds me of being a child and learning about the ‘two houses’ in Sunday School. When I was young, I thought ‘Of course you wouldn’t build a house on sand! How silly!’. In my naive and childlike mind, I had assumed that I was like the man who built a house on the rock, because that was the right thing to do, and I wanted to do what was right.

Of course now as an adult, I understand this passage on a deeper level, and I can be more objective in the way I look at how it applies to my life. Do I continue to make choices every day, in many different ways, to build my life on a solid and unshakable foundation? The question here is really do I choose to make decisions where God – true and unchanging – is at the very basis. Is He my foundation in every area of my life? It can be easy to assume that the answer is yes, but I am encouraged and challenged by this passage to think of areas in my life where I am putting my security in things that can be changing & temporary – be that money, relationships, possessions, employment…instead of in the truth of who God is and what His word says.

As the classic hymn says “On Christ, the solid Rock; I stand. All other ground is sinking sand”.

God, I thank you that you are solid and true and eternal. I’m so grateful that you can always be relied upon. Help me to build every area of my life on the foundation of who you are. Amen.

Written by Ps. Madelaine Tarasenko