Wise and Foolish Builders

I used to love shows like Fixer Upper, Property Brothers, and Love it or List it. You know, the shows where they take the gross old houses, the ones with 19 tiny dogs, the tree that fell through the front half, and baby toys shoved in the air vents. They spend way too much money on them, but they make them beautiful again. Who else loves those shows? Can you tell me what is the worst problem you can come across a home renovation is? Foundation problems! Some people said that if a house has severe enough foundation problems you should just walk away, it isn’t worth trying to fix. That’s how bad having a poor foundation is. We can all just hear JoJo Gains calling the client asking for more money because they came across some horrible foundation problem. You cannot have a house with a faulty foundation, it has to be fixed.

Jesus had something to say about this too in Matthew 7. "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27

So, these houses: They are probably completely alike. They both have windows, doors, walls, a roof. Almost all houses have those things. I hope yours does. Also, both builders heard the words of Christ. They knew what the standard for a house was. But the major difference here is where they build their houses, on the rock or the sand.  

The story is saying that anyone who puts their foundations in Christ, who listens to his teachings and acts on them, has a firm foundation. This is the house that is rooted in Christ, that is able to weather the storms. This is the house that was labored over and built properly. JoJo would be happy to see that house.

Now, on the other hand. It would be so easy to throw up a little lean to on the beach, go fishing with friends, swim all day. Little Zac Brown Band, ya know. “Knee deep in the water somewhere, got the blue sky breeze blowin wind through my hair, only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair.” Yeah? That could be you. Building on the sand requires little work, little commitment, and little sacrifice. Easy, huh? You could just be chilling on the beach. But, then a hurricane comes. You’re wishing you had moved your house further inland, built it on a solid foundation. This past week, there were houses being torn up in Texas from hurricane Harvey. The houses were literally being picked up and moved due to the water and winds rushing by them. And in your life, when, not if, but when the storm comes, if your foundation is faulty, you will not stand.

So what is a solid foundation? What does it look like? It is a foundation founded in christ, not in gossip, lies, appearance, friends, instagram, or anything else of this world. If it’s not those things,  then what does it mean to have a foundation in Christ? It means reading his word and acting on it. That is where most of us fall short. We can all read, we all learned how to read in Kindergarten, but how many of us act. You can read a Building a House for Dummies, but does that mean your house is suddenly on a firm foundation. No! In the same way, you cannot expect to be rooted in Christ just because you read his word. Just like it is easy to build a house with poor craftsmanship, it is easy to have faith with little energy, little commitment, and little sacrifice. “Just roll with the crowd.” “Superficial faith is good enough.” These are the lies the world tells you and they are not a good foundation.  But, Jesus tells you that the only way to survive the storms is to cling to him. Unfortunately, many people realize this too late. They realize the storms are coming and ask for help in the last second. It’s like the movie Evan Almighty, it’s basically the story of Noah’s Ark, just funnier. He’s just building his ship, the way God told him to and all the reporters are there mocking him. But, then they see the dam breaking and they run for the ship, regretting their past decisions. He was building his ship before the storm came, when it was still sunny. It was hard, there was labor, he lost his friends, his job, and for a while his family, but he is the reason all those people lived.

This is where we have a choice. The builders both heard the words of Jesus, they knew the standards, but one chose to act on them and the other didn’t. This choice is where we can go down the wide path or the narrow path. The wide path is the easy, obvious choice. It’s just right there and everyone is doing it. It seems pretty nice. But one day, the storms will come and you will find yourself alone in a desolate land. The narrow path is the hard path. It is not as easy to find, there are not as many people on it. But, when the storms come, you will be able to stand strong.

In my own life, I find that when I am basing my actions in Christ, reading his word, listening to Christian music, going to Church, praying, doing devotions, when I’m involved in my small group, it is so much easier to handle hard things. But oftentimes, I go through periods when I am not walking with Christ, and during those times I have a lot of anxiety attacks and they come because I think I have to do everything by myself. I am standing on a shaky foundation and when more weight is put on it, it collapses. But, when I am relying on Christ, it is so much easier to give things over. If I were just to stay on the path with Jesus, keep my foundation maintained and not crumbling, when the hard times hit, it would not as destructive.

I just came back from a mountaintop experience, a high with Christ on a church retreat. These are awesome, but often while you were there, you realize that you have a faulty foundation. You cannot keep living on it! Just like in a renovation when you have to fix the foundation once you realize it is faulty, you have to fix your spiritual foundation. So, give Jesus a call, pretend you’re Hilary from Love it or List it, and work on rebuilding that foundation. Build it before the storms come, not when the storms are on the horizon. And most importantly, build your foundation on Christ!