A Solid Foundation

Twenty years ago, we outgrew our little church in the downtown area. It had been built in 1938 by a small group of people who had decided not to join a church union movement. For a number of years, they rented other buildings until they were able to build a church of their own. But in 1994, we had outgrown that building, and it was decided to build a new place of worship.

Two brothers, members of our church, donated a big piece of land on the outskirts of our town, and a new building was built. I did the cost accounting and cash flow forecasts during the construction period, and I noticed that the cost for the foundation was going over-budget. When I asked the construction superintendent about this, he mentioned that in the area where the front entrance was going to be, they had found some "weak sand", as he called it, and also some debris which had been buried there many years before. He explained to me that the weak sand and the debris had to be dug out and hauled away, and new fill was to be put in its place. They needed a solid foundation on which to build the new building.

Jesus talked about foundations when He gave us His blueprint for a faithful life. He said that we are to love our enemies; we are to bless those who curse us; we should be generous and treat everyone fairly; we need to be good and merciful; and we should not judge, condemn, or criticize. And then, He said:

Luke 6:47-48 – Whoever comes to Me, and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. (NKJV)

When we build our lives according to Jesus' blueprint, it does not matter what happens in our lives. The rains of disaster may fall on us, the floods of grief may overwhelm us, and the winds of temptation may blow, but we will not be moved from the solid foundation of our faith. We are securely built on the rock of our salvation that is Christ Jesus our Lord.

There are times when we have to dig deep into our lives to get rid of those things which might hinder our faith, just like the weak sand and the rubbish at the site of our new church building had to be removed. We need to dig it out and carry it away and replace it with faith in Jesus, which is the solid rock on which our faith is built.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, there are times when we, too, encounter things in our lives which undermine our faith. We pray that we may have the ability to recognize these, to remove them, and to put our trust in Jesus our Lord. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

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