Praise the Lord, my soul.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved. (Psalm 104:1, 5 NIV)
[This first day of the arts camp we are talking about building the foundations of our lives on the Word, Jesus Christ. This post comes from those devotions.]
Imagine, for a moment, a house built of marshmallows. Imagine how easy it would be to assemble your house! You wouldn’t need much in the way of building tools. A few toothpicks or maybe some hot glue would hold the marshmallows together. It would be lightweight, so you wouldn’t need heavy equipment to move things like floor joists or roof pieces. Marshmallows are pretty cheap – you could buy a whole house worth at the grocery stores. And whenever you go hungry, you could just grab a marshmallow and eat it, right? Sounds great, doesn’t it??
I’m thinking there could be a few problems. First, a house like that would not last long in sun. It would get sticky or even melt. I don’t know how it could support the weight of things like windows or doorways, not to mention a stable roof. And then bugs. I expect all sorts of insects would be more than happy to feast on a diet of sugar and gelatin so easily accessible in those delicious marshmallows. So, maybe marshmallows aren’t the best option for a home.
What if we built a house out of Legos? They’re much sturdier than a marshmallow and they are designed to snap together. They are more expensive than marshmallows, but you don’t have to worry about bugs eating the house. Designed correctly the structure could hold the weight of windows and doors – maybe even a second story. You’d have a lot of options for designs and there are plenty of bricks in the world. (One website claims there are over 400 BILLION Lego bricks on earth!!) And people have actually built full size houses out of Legos. This idea is already better than marshmallows, but houses made of Legos still have issues. They aren’t water-tight. Imagine how complicated life could get if the smallest rain shower would flood your living space. I expect that sleeping on a bed of hard plastic would not be fun. And, of course, you can still break a “wall” of Legos if it gets thrown on the ground or hit in the wrong way. Maybe Legos aren’t the best option, either.
Come to think of it, through the ages, mankind has figured out reasonably decent homes to build, using natural and man-made materials. We have experimented with different places, sizes, and layouts – everything from caves to boats to tree houses to tents to sod houses to brick to stick-built to prefabricated – and many more. (If you want to see a round, aluminum house, check out the Dymaxion House in The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.) No matter the variety of the house, one thing mankind has largely agreed to is that the foundation of a house matters. Building a house on a poor foundation is a guarantee for troubles. Jesus talked about this, too.
“So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; yet 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 (stupid) man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great and complete was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27 AMP)
Jesus used the metaphor of a house to talk about the foundation of our lives. When we hear his Words, receive them, and act on them, then we are like a wise person who builds their life on a rock. That rock isn’t going anywhere. It’s sturdy. A person’s spiritual house built on the firm foundation of God will not falter when the storms of life’s troubles, trials, and struggles come. Contrast that, Jesus said, with someone who hears his words but doesn’t do them. It’s as if that person has built a house on sand. Rain and winds blow against a house built on sand and they wear it down and destroy it. When our lives are built on anything else – wealth, power, influence, entertainment, poor choices, addictions, selfishness, etc. – we don’t have that secure foundation and the storms of life can take us down. Blessed be God our Rock on which we stand!
Word of God,
Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. You wrap yourself in light and stretch out the heavens like a tent. You make the clouds your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind. You have set the earth on its foundations and it can never be moved. Thank you that you are the best and only foundation for our lives. We know that everyone who hears your teaching and applies it to their lives will have a life with an unshakable foundation. When the storms of life beat upon that house it will stand firm because you are its strong foundation. God, focus our hearts and minds and lives in such a way that we are always tending our spiritual foundation. Be our Rock and our Fortress, our Shelter and our Hope, we ask in Jesus’s name. AMEN.
“Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away.” (Matthew 7:24-27 TPT)
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved. (Psalm 104:1-5 NIV)