1 Corinthians 3:10-11 "Using the gift God gave me, I laid the foundation of that house like an expert builder. Others are building on that foundation, but all people should be careful how they build on it. The foundation that has already been laid is Jesus Christ, and no one can lay down any other foundation."
I enjoy baking, especially the yummy sweets called desserts. There are a few things I haven't perfected like my mom, pie crusts for instance, but I still try. Have you ever noticed it's just easier to buy a crust already made and just fill it once you have it home? That has been my go-to but, even though it's good, it's just not the same as a homemade crust. Also, when baking that pie, you need that crust as a firm foundation to hold the entire thing together. One or two cracks and the whole thing could fall apart.
Today let's look more into the parable of the two builders found in Matthew 7. One wise, one foolish. One house that stood firm, one that fell flat. Jesus states more than once in scripture, those who HEAR His words are wise. So, let's really hear the words today.
To begin with the houses are a metaphor for our lives, right? As we grow, get married, have a family, we begin to build our lives on something. When things are great, going smoothly, no problems we tend to not worry about our lives. It's when the winds howl, and the storms come that our foundation comes into question.
Using the house metaphor once more. We recently had a wild rainstorm come through lower Michigan. Tornadoes were around and the rain was coming down heavily. I wasn't too worried about the rain because I was safe in my house, but as it ended, I looked out back at the pools of water and my mind immediately thought about flooding and our sump pump. Sure enough, the waters had overtaken our culvert and, although the pump was working, the water still began to cover the basement floor. Luckily our foundation is sure and the water outside receded quickly, allowing the water to empty from the basement without damage or bad flooding.
Well, we live in the real world of stress, anxiety, problems, and struggles. These are the winds that come beating at us in our lives making us keenly aware of how firm our foundation is or isn't.
Now that we've established that the “house” in the parable is our lives that we are building on, let's look a little closer at how our lives break up into many parts, like a pie. Our lives represent our faith, our jobs, our family, our health, our recreation time, Jesus, and much more. The entirety of our lives has to be on a foundation to work together as a whole, like a pie. Unfortunately, we tend break our lives many sections throughout the day, each slice taken at a time, dividing up our day.
Our faith slices easily, checked off as going strong. We go to church, participate in Bible study group, prayer, daily quiet time. It's part of our routine and we are doing fine. As the day goes by, we leave our slice of Jesus in His spot and move on to our jobs, our family, tending the home and chores, and we make sure to enjoy our recreational slice. It's like we know that slice with Jesus is there but our day fills with all the other things needed to get done. We tend to forget Jesus is part of all the other areas as well as part of the foundation of our lives.
But Jesus continues, He says there will be threats that will shake our homes. Rains, floods, and winds to be exact. Now, we've all experienced all types of rain from the drizzles that just make a day dreary, to a light fall where we need an umbrella, but we keep on trekking through the day. Then there's the blinding torrential downpour, where it stops you in your tracks and the thunder and lightning intensifies it all. Our lives will face the same types of rain which make up our struggles and troubles. Some may be light and easy to navigate through, while others will come swiftly, knock us off our feet, leaving us a little overwhelmed.
Floods are all out disasters thrown at us. Illness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, financial struggles, divorce. We can be in real danger of drowning. This is when our foundation is really tested, like my home in the storm.
Now the winds can be very powerful. Powerful enough to tear down or build up. The winds in our lives are like words spoken and can beat against our house. Thoughtless remarks from a friend, rebuke from a boss, attacks online, heartless words from a by-stander. We can even beat ourselves up with negative words about ourselves.
In all that can come at us, Jesus promises not only will our house stand when built on a firm foundation it will not be shaken, Luke 6:48.
Remember that faith part of the pie or that Jesus slice? Faith should not just be a slice of the pie, faith is the key and Jesus is not a slice, He is the crust, our foundation, He is the one element we need in our lives throughout the entire day. No matter what we fill the pie with if the crust is lousy the pie will probably fail at achieving that perfect flavor. Achieving a good crust takes effort and time.
Some people believe the same about faith. It takes too much effort and time to work on it and grow in it. They believe the Bible is relevant in only some areas in life. It surely can't be applicable in the “real world" the “nitty gritty" of every day. So, they build a life with an unsteady foundation.
For a good pie and crust, you have to take the time, practice, try more than once and allow your skills to grow in making the pie. The same is said in building our lives with Jesus. We have to take the time, dig into God's Word, apply it to our lives and let our hearts grow with Jesus.
Like a pie needs a good solid crust, a home needs a solid foundation. Our faith and our lives need to be built on Jesus. He is not just a slice in our day but are the undergirding and supports of our entire existence. Jesus is the one who tightly surrounds us and holds us together no matter what storms come our way. Our faith is the framework of our lives and is the difference between a life that stands or a life that crumbles.
Like a home, there will need to be occasional repairs and constant checking to make sure our home is secure, our spiritual foundation needs the same attention. Through the Word, prayer and applying ourselves, we need to daily strengthen our lives on Jesus our solid foundation. Occasionally we need to also test ourselves for cracks or shifts in our foundation (anxiety, bitterness, anger, things we’re leaning toward that might pull us away from God) -2 Corinthians 13:5.
Jesus is our secure foundation and is an expert on repairing and resetting a foundation. There is nothing like a life founded on the Word of God. It's a foundation that will never change, never give way, and never let us down. Jesus is the whole pie and with Him life can be delicious. How are you building your foundation today?
My hope with my blogs is not only that you are inspired and uplifted and find strength and encouragement with God but that you also have been able to find time to join me as we have been studying through the Bible seeking a deeper relationship with God. We have already studied through several books in the New Testament and are going to spend the next several weeks in another. I have shared a link with a short study to go along with the lesson of the day if you want some guidance but I also have encouraged you to just take a few more minutes out of your time to read along with me through the chapters allowing the Holy Spirit to lead your heart and mind. We are now going to go through Galatians starting with reading Galatians 1:1-2:10. May you be filled with many blessings and new encouragement as we read.
Galatians Study 1- https://www.docdroid.net/b49rHRq/galatians-study-1-docx
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