The Only Foundation

The apostle Paul worked with and mentored some incredible people of faith, including Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, the Gospel writers Mark and Luke, Priscilla and Aquila, Titus, and Lydia. Talk about an all-star discipleship team! But as we saw in an earlier devotion, there was an outlier among Paul’s in-crowd. His name was Demas.

In Philemon 1:23–24, Paul name-checks Demas, identifying him as a trusted coworker. In 2 Timothy 4:10, however, Paul breaks this bad news: “Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica” (NLT).

It seems almost unimaginable, doesn’t it? How could someone appear to be radically converted and passionate about the Christian faith and then, without warning, suddenly give it up and walk away?

I’ve seen similar things happen. I’ve met people who were emotional about Jesus and fired up about their faith, only to later fall into gross sin. What happened? I believe they never were rooted in Christ. Some people are just impulsive by nature. They’re always into the latest fad. Whatever grabs their attention is what they want to be into—until something else grabs their attention.

Think of it in terms of exercise equipment. If you walk through a neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon when people have their garage doors open, you’re likely to see more than a few exercise machines. What you’re unlikely to see is people working out on them. Instead, you’ll find that many of the machines serve as nothing more than expensive clothes hangers. Their presence tells the story of people who decided that they were going to get into shape, but whose enthusiasm didn’t stand the test of time.

A similar thing happens to some people who make a commitment to Christ. They get very excited about their faith in the beginning, but their excitement and commitment don’t stand the test of time. One possible explanation is that they built their faith on the wrong foundation.

Maybe they decided to follow Christ because their friends did. Or maybe they put their faith in a certain church, and then found out that it wasn’t perfect, that it was filled with flawed people like them. Perhaps some pastor didn’t measure up to their expectations. Whatever the problem was, they didn’t build their foundation on Christ. The Bible tells us, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11 NLT).

Jesus Himself said, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock” (Matthew 7:24–25 NLT).

He is the only foundation that will sustain us as Christians—not another person, not an experience, not a program, not a church, but Jesus Christ. He is our bedrock.

Reflection question: How can you make sure that your commitment to Christ remains firm? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

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