Preserving Our Foundation

Luke 6:48 – He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. (NIV)

One day recently I took the tomatoes off the few plants I had, and cut them up, along with onion, green peppers and spices, to make chilli sauce. What an aroma! There's nothing like it. After it was cooked and put into jars, I took them downstairs and put them into the fruit cellar. That was the extent of my preserving for the year.

Upon going into the fruit cellar, my eyes focused on the sign nailed to the wall: "Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation."

This sign has been with us from the beginning of our married life. It came from my husband's grandmother's kitchen, and forty-three years ago we chose to nail it to the foundation of our house. Not that we were ashamed of it, but because of its wording, we thought it appropriate to include it as the foundation of our life together.

Sometimes I would look at the wording in shame, knowing I had a silent listener to all of our conversations, which weren't always what the Lord would have condoned. The sign is well weathered and quite worn, but the meaning and the reflection have stood through the years. It has been the foundation of our lives, and still is.

Would that all had such a foundation in life, honouring Christ at the head of all our lives, remembering that we do have a silent and unseen observer of all our conversations and all our actions through our everyday lives here on earth.

The remembrance of these words representing the foundation of all our lives would change the world far faster than anything else, and keep us stronger than any evil that Satan can attempt.

May we all reflect in such a way as to firm up the foundation that gives meaning and strength to our faith. May Jesus Christ be at our head.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come to You this day confessing our sin, knowing that we are not perfect, but that we strive to do your will. In the days that lie ahead, continue to lead us, in the full knowledge that You alone are the One who can preserve our foundation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.