For
other foundation can
no
man lay than that is laid,
which
is Jesus Christ.
I
Corinthians 3:11
Finally,
after arriving here to what is now our home town, builders got
started on the construction of our new house. We were living only a
block from the building site which made it very handy for Brian to
keep a check on the construction progress. However, on one
particular morning, our phone rang. A lady who lived a short
distance from where our house was being worked on, called with great
concern. She said that there were large machines being used to dig
what would be a crawl space under the house. She was a little
alarmed because the workers had been digging unreasonably deep into
the ground.
Brian
jumped in the car and headed for the lot. Within a few minutes, he
was back and wanted me to go with him to view the disaster. When we
got there, I noted that they had practically dug out a full basement.
I figured we could at least have one Olympic size swimming pool for
a crawl space. When asked why they had done what they did, the reply
was that they were trying to dig down to a firm area and still hadn't
reached a solid table that they could consider a foundation for the
house. Terrible mistakes had been made. They had not tested the
soil before proceeding to even know what they were dealing with. We
live a block from the river so the soil is very different than other
places. The company had to make corrections. My concern was that if
there was just a small area of that ground that could give way, the
whole house could be affected. I knew if one little place gave way,
the whole house could give way or be rendered unsafe for habitation.
Foundations
are important. Foundations are important enough that Jesus chose to
close His Sermon on the Mount with a very familiar story about
building a house either on sand or on solid rock. He wasn't just
talking about the how-to's of building houses. Jesus was speaking of
spiritual foundations in people's lives. If you are like me, you
learned a little song in Sunday school about the wise man and foolish
man who each built a house but on different foundations. We know
that the wise man built his house on rock while the foolish man built
his on sand. Thus, when the storms came, one house fell while the
other one stood firm.
There
was a time when the foundation of our country was firmly in place.
We've never been a perfect country, but most of us of any age beyond
50 recall a country with moral integrity and you didn't even have to
be a Christian to know what America was all about. However, much of
the character, morality and integrity of our country is eroding and
eroding quickly. Did we ever think a president of our country would
endorse the gay agenda including gay marriage? Fifty years ago, such
a president would have been run out of the White House with no
apology. That's just one example of where we are and the list could
go on. Let me hasten to say, though, that a nation's foundation
doesn't just slip and crack on it's own, nor does it happen
overnight. It happens individual by individual and sadder yet, it
happens Christian by Christian. We aren't the Christians we used to
be either. We used to be a very vocal influence in our country. Now
we've been cowed into corners and we're told to just sit and keep
quiet because the “separation of church and state” requires that
we do so. What is sad is that even Christians have fallen into the
trap of believing that statement. No other key statement has done
the damage to our country like that one and it isn't even true.
I
know Christians who would consider the business they own to be their
foundation of life. They might not want to admit it but it's what
their overall attitude reveals. Just listen sometime to what friends
talk about and you will quickly learn what is important to them.
Some may speak of stocks and bonds, while others dote
conversationally on their children. Many women talk ad nauseum about
scrap booking and crafting. It's just interesting to listen to those
things sometime. We are all guilty. There's nothing wrong with
sharing interests but when was the last time, in the course of
conversation, someone said, “Let's talk about Jesus.” Where
does He fit in our every day conversations and doings?
On
the other hand, I know of folks who don't claim any relationship with
Jesus Christ. Many do claim to be religious but base their religion
on good works of all shapes and sizes. They seem to do and say all
the right things, but it's all based on a faulty foundation. That
foundation won't make it in life and definitely won't at the time of
death. I repeat our opening verse:
For
other foundation can no man
lay
than that is laid, which is
Jesus
Christ.
I
Corinthians 3:11
Whatever
else we stack on that foundation that is Jesus Christ, is basically
good for nothing. He's strong and quite capable of holding us up,
giving us sure spiritual footing. There's nothing we can add to it
or subtract from it. Jesus is who and what He is...we can stand
straight and firmly on Him. Any other foundation will crack, give
way and be disastrous. Isn't it wonderful, in these days of so much
insecurity that we can look to our sure foundation knowing that He
not only supports us but wants to be in close relationship with us
and on a personal level too. Along with this one on one relationship
we enjoy, we all come together to make up His church. There have
been times when we have been in a worship service and have sung a
familiar hymn that is so appropriate:
The
church's one foundation, is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She
is His new creation, by Spirit and the Word;
From
heaven He came and sought her, to be His holy bride,
With
His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.
**********************************
Thank
You, dear Jesus for giving Yourself, shedding Your blood for me. I
can't repay You but I can live my life to please You. I can also
fully and lovingly be a part of Your church that You founded and that
You still dearly love day by day, year by year. Thank You. In
Jesus' dear name. Amen and Amen!
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