Build on Solid Rock

I’ve come to realize that I like the idea of the beach more than actually going to the beach. But when I do go, one thing I like about the beach is building sandcastles with my grandkids.

Now, I’m not a great sandcastle builder, but there are other people who build insanely elaborate ones right by the ocean. They’re amazing. But to me it seems like the biggest waste of time ever because the tide eventually will rise and wash them away.

It isn’t a good idea to build something on sand. Jesus said, “But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” (Matthew 7:26–27 NLT).

This person essentially represents a nonbeliever. I’ll call him a pseudobeliever who hears the Word of God and doesn’t do it. He appears to be a believer when actually he is not.

When you get down to it, we all build our lives on something. We all have a set of values that we live by. Even people who say they have no values actually have values of some kind. That is the foundation of our lives.

So, here’s the question: Will your foundation sustain you when the storms of life come?

The storms of life will come our way in some form. It may be a tidal wave of temptation or the slow, eroding effect of more subtle methods of the Enemy. And sometimes one storm will follow another.

So, here’s how to really know what your life is built on: If you’ve built it on sand, you will crumble. But if you’ve built it on rock—the rock of Jesus Christ—you will stand strong.