Skip to main content

Sandy Soil...

                 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

 

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7)

 

One of the bits of jargon I’ve been hearing lately is “single-use.” People are advocating against using any piece of plastic (or anything else) that is designed to be used and thrown away. It’s supposed to be thriftier and better for the environment, though they don’t seem to take into account the impact of cleaning the multi-use items. Sometimes, we tend to think of Scripture passages as being “single-use.” They can be applied to one thing only, and after that, they’re useless.

Most of us are familiar with the passage from the Sermon the Mount. It’s likely we were taught it as children with the teaching that those who have faith in Christ have built their houses on rocks, while those who don’t have faith in Christ have built theirs on sand. Why is it, then, that when something goes wrong in life, even Christians tend to feel as though they’re on shifting sands. The rug has been pulled out from under them, they’re thrown for a loop, etc. Yes, after a time, they’re likely to come around to something that feels more solid, and that’s undoubtedly God’s goal. But the point is that unsaved sand versus saved rock is not the only application of this idea.

Another application is carnal sand versus spiritual rock. When we are living by ourselves (with ourselves as our primary reference point, not with no other people in the home,) we are likely to find the terrain sandy. When we’re living for another person, our sense of reality depends on their shifting sand of experiences and feelings. It’s like Peter’s walk on the water. When we focus on something other than Jesus, our footing tends to be  unsteady and we cry out that we’re drowning.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more