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.
Today, what will you build your life upon?
Truth Changes Everything
Think about the best news you've ever received in your life. Maybe it was a doctor walking into a waiting room and saying, "The surgery went perfectly." Maybe it was a phone call that said, "You got the job." Maybe it was two lines on a pregnancy test you'd been praying for.
Good news changes everything.
But none of those moments, as incredible as they are, even come close to the truth delivered on the first Easter morning:
"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."
Matthew 28:6 (NIV)
Jesus had been crucified publicly, brutally, and officially. He was wrapped, sealed in a tomb. There was no question. Jesus was dead. It was true.
But when His followers Mary and Mary Magdalene arrived to grieve? The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. And an angel met them with the most stunning announcement in human history.
But the angel doesn’t just tell the women the truth. He invites them to look for themselves. To step inside. To experience the...