Building on the Firm Foundation: The Importance of a Solid Spiritual Base

In Israel, the rainy season stretches from November through early May every year. The desert regions of the country, which receive little to no precipitation during the non-rainy months, have mostly dry riverbeds. In Arabic these are called wadis. With high volumes of water, these can become raging rivers of rain runoff causing flash flooding and damage to everything surrounding them. Dangerous in nature, the citizens of Israel know to avoid locations where these exist. Israelis know not to build anything of value near these wadis because when they overflow, destruction to their property is guaranteed. A house built on a shifting riverbed will collapse when the rainy season comes.

So is the case with our Christian life.
 
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount saying: 

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and   the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain   fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Two builders were building different versions of the same structure, both needing a house and accomplishing that task. However, the foundation on which they built those homes were vastly different. Verses 24 and 25 describe the wise man that obeyed the words of Jesus, held those words in his heart, and built his very life upon Christ, his cornerstone. His house stood against the rains and floods. Verses 26 and 27 describe the foolish man, who heard the words of Jesus and did not obey them—rebellious, prideful, self-sufficient. His house fell with a great fall.

Right before the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, in Matthew 4, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness and tempted by Satan. During this time, Satan uses multiple incorrect interpretations of the Word of God to try to convince Jesus to act outside of the good and perfect will of the Father. Jesus shows us how to stand on God’s Word. He did this perfectly throughout the entirety of his life. While we desperately need the sustaining grace of God in order to even attempt to build a life upon Christ, we have a beautiful model and teacher in Jesus on how to do this.

After the temptation in the desert, Matthew 5-6 follows with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is referenced in the above passage regarding “these words of mine.” It is helpful to look at some of the instructions that Jesus gave to help discern what kind of base we are building upon. Prayer (6:5), forgiveness (5:21-26), generosity (6:1-4), and purity (5:27-30) are all virtues that point to being that wise man in the parable. Seeking after the Lord as he refines and sharpens our souls to be more inclined to these things is what helps, brick by brick, to build a spiritual house that is not shaken when trials come.

On the flip side, lust, anger, retaliation, and pride are all signs of a weak, broken, and shaky establishment. The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) and therefore preys on us and entices us with these sinful vices. The fruit of these things? A house that crumbles when the storms rage.

I pray that we become an obedient people. A people saturated in the Word of God so as to honor the Lord in the building of our foundations upon his life. As we seek to be able to weather the storms of life, I also pray we see God’s grace to guide, teach, and protect as we hobble, stumble, and struggle our way to fling our lives upon The Firm Foundation.  

Spurgeon, in referencing the struggles and spiritual warfare associated with beginning the process, says, “There is a hellish industry about Satan. He knows that his kingdom stands upon a rickety foundation, and therefore he is always anxious. Like a man at sea in a leaky ship, who is afraid of every wind that blows, so is the devil afraid of every new good thing, and every fresh device of divine grace, and when he sees the beginnings, he thinks, “I will destroy the beginnings, I will break down the foundations, and then the walls can never be built.” 

May we ever be strengthening our foundations– trusting, obeying, and loving Jesus who laid his life down so we could live.