With all this rain we've been getting I been thinking back
to an old Vacation Bible School song we used to sing when I was young, The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock.
It's based on a story Jesus told in Matthew 7 at the end of his
longest recorded teaching that is often referred to as The Sermon on the Mount.
When the rains came and the wind blew
the wise man's house stood firm because it was built on the rock solid
foundation of Jesus' teachings. On the other
hand, the foolish man's house, which was built on the sand, fell apart when the
winds and rain came because it wasn't built on Jesus' teaching. The song was always one of the favorites especially since it had fun hand motions. All us kids would raise our hands and mimic
rain falling down and the fun part was when the foolish man's house went
"splat"!
The plain message of the parable is that some lives will be
able to weather the storms of life while others won't and the difference isn't
the structure itself but the underlying foundation.
Imagine building a house and giving no thought to the foundation?
Our family likes to watch those home repair shows especially
the ones where the contractors find some old house and put together a beautiful
plan to restore the structure. They sit
down with the homeowners and dazzle them with their computer animated remodel
and set out a plan to transform the dilapidated house. Inevitably, as they begin their work some unexpected
issue comes up. Often times there is
some previously unseen structural issue that needs to be addressed before the renovation
can continue. Everything is put on hold because
there's no sense building a beautiful structure if it's about to fall in on itself. The disappointed couple have to make some
sacrifices since no one wants their house to go "splat"!
We humans tend to spend a lot of time and effort in the
structure, and Jesus knew that. That's
why he tells this story. He's warning us
that no matter how pretty we look on the outside and no matter how impressed
our friends are when they tour our lives, what really matters are those things
that no one else can see - our foundation.
Imagine building a life and giving no thought to the foundation?
There's really no sense living a life that will fall in on itself
when the rains come and the winds blow. And,
as we all know, the rains do come and the winds do blow and, when they do, what
really matters, the only thing that matters, is your foundation.
Jesus makes the bold claim, "Listen to my words and put
them into practice and you can be sure that your life will have a rock solid
foundation." At the very least he's
worth a hearing, isn’t he?
It may require a little sacrifice but no one wants their life to go
"splat"!
