Building our Houses on Sand

Where have you built your house?

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell – and great was its fall.”  Matthew 7:24-27

We’ve had quite a sprint of bad weather recently, here in NJ and more seriously in other parts of the country, and around the globe.  Last night we had torrential rain with thunder and lightning.   This spring has seen more flood warnings than I’ve remembered in recent history.  Parts of the Midwest are seeing unprecedented flooding along both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

News reports have shown pictures of humongous swaths of the Midwest and Southern farm and ranch land covered in water for miles on end.  Earlier this year, right in our own back yard, the Passaic River was above flood stage for almost a week in parts of Wayne and Fairfield. 

It makes you wonder whose bright idea it was to build the homes, now under water, in the flood plain of these rivers.   And who would be foolish enough to buy them?

In fairness, sometimes those homes weren’t in a flood plain to begin with but because of political decisions, flood plains or relief zones are re-mapped and moved.   Again, who thought that was a good idea?

But, we really ought not be too critical.  Don’t we also build our houses on sand?

Maybe not our physical home structures, but certainly our hearts and minds… the home for our spirit.

How often do we put trust in the media, our government, our jobs, a relationship, or our bank accounts over building a foundation of trust in God?

How often do we need to use the crutches of addictions, sensationalism, and other “isms” to prop up our crumbling lives, broken hearts and tortured minds?

How often do we step on the shifting sands of human promise instead of putting our feet on the solid rocks of divine promise?

By forgetting to trust in God and place our lives in His care, our spirits are beaten by the winds, rains, and floods of our lives, and our hearts and minds become weak.  We easily struggle and fall.

By placing our confidence in God, our spirits may be beaten by those same winds, rains and floods of our lives, but our hearts and minds will weather those storms.  We will rise against the world that would tear us down, and our spirits will be lifted high and held safe in the arms of a loving and merciful God who asks only for us to look to Him to be that sure foundation.

May you enjoy your beach vacations this summer; but watch how those sand castles are washed away with one swift wave.  Remember the verses from Matthew and pledge to build your spirit’s foundation on the solid rock of Jesus.  Amen.

In what ways have you built your house on sand?  How can you start rebuilding on the solid rock of Christ?

Come build up your spirit in God's house at St. Andrew.
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www.elcaAndy.org