#34.

God's Word is a Sure Foundation for Life

Luke 6:4749 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great. Jesus gives us His evaluation of two different sorts of people. On the one hand, there are those who hear His words and live their lives accordingly - putting into practice the things they hear from Him. On the other hand, there are those who hear His words and turn a deaf ear to them, so that they do not follow His commands and His instructions. Which are you? The first set of people, He says, have a solid foundation so that when trials and difficulties come upon them like a tsunami, they will not be swept away and destroyed by the force of them. Their foundation is firm and cannot be undermined, weakened and eroded by troubles and hardships, or indeed by the Judgment on the Last Day. How different is the fate of the second group of people, who have no firm footings for their life, All they have are vague hopes that somehow everything will turn out alright. But vague hopes are no help when the flood of troubles and difficulties come upon us - and those who build their hopes upon them find their lives in ruins, and are swept away to destruction like many of the structures we witnessed in that horrendous Japanese tsunami. Like a tidal wave, afflictions can come upon us with little warning. There is often no time to strengthen the underpinnings of our lives before they are put to the test. That's why it is important to make sure today that we have a sure foundation for our lives before it's too late. The final trial that each of us will face is the Judgment of God and there is only one foundation we can trust in that is strong enough to enable us to endure that - the saving work of Jesus Christ! Where does Jesus point us in the passage above so we can make sure we have this foundation in our lives? He says we have to know His words and act upon them. Where will we find His words? In the Bible, and we can hear them preached from the pulpits of faithful churches. As we begin another new week, then, here are a few questions for us to reflect on: Is my life built on this firm foundation - am I seeking in my life to discover and obey all the commands of Jesus? (If not, you need to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus alone to save you and to give you new life and a solid foundation for the trials that are ahead.) Am I searching the Bible every day to know more about how He wants me to live? If not, how will you cope when the trials come upon you? Am I being careful not just to read the Bible and hear it preached, but to live my life accordingly? It is not enough to be hearers of the Word, we must also be doers of it. Let's get busy with our life-foundations in this coming week!

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