Foundations for Life

Did you ever build a sand castle as a child? Y'know, you're at the beach with your friends or siblings, using buckets to scoop sand and pack it into the next layer of your sand castle. Do you remember doing that? Sometimes, you'd build your sand castle close to the water, so you could have a moat. When you did that, you started by creating a foundation. The stronger it was, the longer your sand castle would stand against the tide of the water.

Just as your sand castle had to have a strong foundation, so does your life and walk with God. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus tells a story about two people. The first person built his home on solid ground (a rock). In the story, a storm came, and his house stood the test of time. The second person built his home on a loose foundation (sand). When the storms came, his home was tossed around and eventually crumbled. The first builder was smart to build his home on solid ground. The added stability helped weather the storm.

I was reading Deuteronomy recently and came across the following verse:

Deu 32:37b Where are their gods, the rock in which they put their faith?

I started to think about Jesus in this statement. In Matthew 16:16-18, Jesus asks the disciples who they say that He is. Peter responds that Jesus is the Christ and Son of the living God. Jesus then encourages Peter, but says something peculiar. "On this rock I will build my church." Often times, people will say that Peter is the rock or something of that sort, but look at the passage in context. Jesus is saying that His church will be built on the truth that He is the Son of the living God and the Christ (anointed one). Without the truth that Jesus is the Son of the living God, we have no Christian church.

My wife and I came out of a church with an abusive pastor. We were two of many people who left due to "issues" we'll call them. The main thing that I saw was people questioning God after this. The theology taught put the pastor in the place of God (similar to the Pope) and required people to go through him to talk to God. Only he could hear from God and only he had direct access. Everyone else was "less mature" and not correctly discerning what God was speaking to them. Leaving this caused many of my friends to question God and question their experiences. Some of them turned their back on God and others mixed Godliness with worldliness and called it holy. All of this came about because their foundation was not in Christ. They based their faith on one of the shakiest foundations of all, other people.

In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, Paul talks about the only foundation that may be built upon is Jesus Christ. Everything that is staked on top of that foundation will be weathered (burned with fire in the scripture). What is left standing will be gain and what is lost will be loss. In terms of your walk with God, our foundation must be Christ Jesus. The stupid things we do as we mature in Christ will eventually amount to nothing. The key is to focus on Christ Jesus.

I believe that when you focus on Christ Jesus, your life may sway, but as your foundation in Him becomes stronger, you will be less susceptible to being swayed.