“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.
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