And the rains came down ...

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"!