Choose Your Foundation
Imagine standing next to the sea as waves crash at your feet, storm clouds swallow the sky, and the wind whips your face.
You know you need shelter—and that’s when you see a small hut nestled in the sand nearby, and one further away that’s firmly built into a rocky hill. Which shelter would you choose to take cover in?
2,000 years ago, when Jesus walked this earth, He often told stories to the crowds that gathered around to hear Him teach. One day, He said to them:
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”
Matthew 7:24-25 NLT
As was His way, Jesus used real-life examples to help explain spiritual truths:
“But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Matthew 7:26-27 NLT
We are all building our lives on something. Every decision we make reinforces what we believe our support system to be. So when life’s storms come, will the thing you’ve built your life on support you—or cause you to crumble?
Jesus’ teachings have remained reliable and steadfast through social upheaval, the rise and fall of government regimes, and generations of historic change. No matter what has happened—God’s Word still stands firm.
Teachings from the world, on the other hand, tend to shift with each generation. Like shifting sand, what current culture provides is usually unstable because its values are constantly changing.
Storms are inevitable and challenges will come, but you get to choose your foundation. You can choose to make Jesus the one thing you build your life upon, or you can choose whatever habit, idea, or desire feels good and accessible in the moment.
So … what will you build your life upon?
Proverbs 16
English Standard Version
16 The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the spirit.[a]
3 Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established.
4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.
7 When a man's ways please the Lord,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8 Better is a little with righteousness
than great revenues with injustice.
9 The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.
10 An oracle is on the lips of a king;
his mouth does not sin in judgment.
11 A just balance and scales are the Lord's;
all the weights in the bag are his work.
12 It is an abomination to kings to do ...