By Casey Griffiths
Matthew 7:21-28
How is your life’s foundation today? This is such an important question because it’s your foundation that determines how well you will withstand the storms.
Jesus shows us in this week’s passage that we have two options for building our foundation. We can either have a foundation that is built on the rock, which will withstand the pressures of the storm, or we will have a foundation that is built on the sand, which shifts and recedes when confronted with the rising tides.
Let’s talk about the sandy foundation first. This first foundation is one that we are likely very familiar with. I’m sure everyone has a sandcastle experience. I remember one time building a massive and impressive sand structure with my brother and friends. I remember thinking that it was probably the best castle anyone had ever created!! We left the beach before the tide came in, but, I’m sure we all know what happened to that castle. As the tide rose the sands shifted and sank and I’m pretty sure our beautiful sand castle would have crumbled, being swept away by the currents. If you walked by the next day you likely wouldn’t even know that a grand castle was ever there.
The end result of a sandy foundation is destruction, “the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash”.
So, what is a sandy foundation, and how do we avoid it? Well, Jesus shows us that a sandy foundation is hearing His words but not actually put them into practice. This means that anything that takes us away from following after God’s word can be sand. Some examples of building sandy foundations:
-trusting in ourselves and thinking our ideas and our plans are better than His
-following after what the world says we should do
-behaving one way at church, but another when we leave
Fortunately for us, there is a better foundation and this one is on the rock! We are told that “the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had a foundation on the rock”. Praise God for the rock!!
I will leave you with a few practical ways to build your house on the rock:
Read God’s word regularly. You don’t have to wait for January 1 to start! If you don’t know where to start, the Bible app has some great plans. It’s not too late!
Connect with people who will encourage you to follow God’s word and His plan! Summer study is about to begin, this is a great opportunity to surround yourself with community!
Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and ask that He will help you to learn to build a solid foundation.
Ladies, when the rains come (and they will), and the streams rise, and the winds blow, make sure you are prepared with a solid foundation on Jesus Christ, The Rock!