Tag: Matthew 7:24-27

On Christ the Solid Rock

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What are you building your life upon? What is your foundation? What do you depend on?

Your wealth? Home? Friendships? Career? Health? Accomplishments? The safety and stability of living in America?

I hope that even as you read that list of possibilities you realized that none of those things provide a solid, secure foundation. We are trusting in insubstantial, shaky support if our heart is relying on these type things.

Scripture tells us in Matthew 7 a story about a couple of people who built their houses, meaning, their lives. One chose a stable foundation and one did not. In verses 24-27 we read…

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

The house built for stability was built on a foundation of hearing and obeying God’s Word. If you’re unfamiliar with this lesson Jesus shared you might think the one who built on an unstable foundation didn’t hear the Word of God, but that is not so. He also heard the word of God. The difference is that the fellow with the unstable life chose not to obey. This reveals a life-changing truth: The difference in a stable life and an unstable one is whether or not we obediently put God’s Word into practice in our daily lives.

When we are hopeless, we can hope in Jesus if we have built our life upon Him and His truths from scripture. When we are depressed and the world looks dark and we can’t seem to see Him working, we rest in the truth of His Word. When the storms of life rage, we cling to Him and the truths He has revealed about Himself in His Message to us. When our soul is weary and we’re about to collapse, give in, and fall apart, we throw ourselves upon His grace, love, justice, and mercy revealed in His Word. This produces a hope that is not just wishful thinking, but is a confident expectation that God is on our side and He will come through for us in our trials and troubles.

An old hymn sums it up best. I find myself singing this around the house when my foundation doesn’t seem solid, to remind myself that things are not always as they seem, and that I have chosen to build on the solid rock, not the sinking sand.

On Christ the Solid Rock

by Robert Critchley

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils, His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my Hope and Stay

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh, may I then, in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness, alone
Faultless to stand before the throne

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

Choose today to start building on a sure foundation!

Construction Zone: The Foundation

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As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 1 Peter 2:4-6

As we continue our series “Construction Zone,” we can’t move forward without taking a look at our foundation. Everyone who’s ever built a house or even seen one built is aware of the great time and measuring and care that goes into laying the foundation. It is no different with our spiritual house than it is with physical structures; we must carefully lay our foundation to have a strong house. As 1 Peter 2 reminds us, we are living stones being built up into a spiritual house, and Ephesians 2:20 tells us that Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone.

You’re most likely familiar with the term “cornerstone.” Before the advent of poured cement, the cornerstone was that perfectly strong, perfectly hewn, and perfectly positioned boulder that was laid in the dug out earth to give strength and accuracy to the new structure being built. Jesus is that for us. He is our cornerstone in building our spiritual house that makes it a strong and well-built home.

As we construct our spiritual lives, we have to ask ourself first, “Am I built on the best cornerstone?” Some of us have built our lives on lesser cornerstones of family or a certain person or religion or even the unstable mud of money and possessions. Early on those things may have seemed to us as a teenager or young adult as The Thing that architecture-building-grass-280235would make our life perfect. And newly built structures all look equally perfect at the moment. Only after years of living on a faulty foundation do we find our lives looking like the leaning tower of Pisa or crumbling in shambles and having to be torn down and painfully started all over from scratch so to speak. An examination today of what your life is built upon will save you pain and confusion in the future. It’s better to find the termites early, by accident, than years later when the destruction is irreparable.

If we answered that above question with a firm, “Yes. My life is built on the Chief Cornerstone,” then the next question is, “How are you continuing to build?”

Jesus tells us a story about a couple of builders in Matthew chapter 7. You’ve probably all heard it and maybe even sung a little song about it as a kid, but have you thought about the application of it to your life? Here’s the story:

“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.” Matthew 7:24-27

Ladies, even if we acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Chief Cornerstone in our lives, we still have work to do. There is more to be built. The first choice is our choice of the foundation onto which we allow this cornerstone to rest. Is your Chief Cornerstone brick-215779_1280surrounded by the strong rock of hearing and obeying God’s Word or by the shifting sand of disobedience and lack of commitment to His Word? The rock of a heart that is committed to obey will choose to obey in the toughest storms and darkest hours of life. But the wishy-washy heart of those who hear God’s word and do not do them will lead to an unstable foundation that will shift and wash away when storms arise and times get tough, thus leaving an unstable home and life.

We tell our children, “Choices have consequences.” They do. Even for us as adults. Spend some time with your Father this morning and allow your “foundation specialist” to diagnose what is going on out of sight just below your floor. It may be time for some needed repairs before your structure crashes down around you. Build your foundation wisely!

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