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

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a 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

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more