Justin Tucker, LHBC Worship Pastor
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “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.”
Rain came, wind blew
But my house was built on You
I’m safe with You
I’m gonna make it through
Rain came, wind blew
But my house was built on You
I’m safe with You
I’m gonna make it through
One of my favorite TV shows is a treasure hunting show called The Curse of Oak Island. The premise of the show is that for over 200 years people have been searching for a buried treasure on Oak Island, an island off of the coast of Nova Scotia. For over 200 years excavations have been happening in an area called the “Money Pit.” Due to all the extensive excavations and tunnels that have been dug for 200+ years, the ground in the “Money Pit” has become very unstable. Over the years 6 men have died looking for the treasure. They died from tunnels collapsing, tunnels flooding, and from gas pockets being ruptured and asphyxiating. A couple of years ago while drilling in the “Money Pit,” the platform and drill began to sink into the ground> They immediately had to stop drilling and call a stop for the entire year. This year, before they started drilling and inserting a 10 foot wide caisson, they dumped 1150 tons of gravel onto the “Money Pit” area to stabilize the ground. Can you imagine that? There have been lives lost and millions and millions of dollars spent in the pursuit of a treasure that no one knows if it really exists.
Can’t our lives look alot like that sometimes? Whether it’s a relationship, an achievement, a dream, a failure, or our own plan, our foundations are built out of our own desires. We can only build our lives with our own hands for so long until we realize that our foundations aren’t strong enough on their own. They’re built on the wrong things or they’re cracked and broken. What God wants to build in our lives is an eternal, purpose-filled life, a life that we can’t earn or build on our own strength or merit. It takes a strong and solid foundation. When we put our faith in Jesus, we exchange our faulty, self-made, crumbling foundation, broken by the weight of sin, for solid footing on the foundation of God, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
As we take up our cross daily, we begin to see him building what only He can build in our lives: He will give us eyes to see people the way that He sees them, He will give us hearts filled with the things He loves and hearts that break for the things that break His, and lives that seek to serve those around us. His is a love which cannot be moved or changed, and through Jesus we become part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Jesus holds it all together and the Holy Spirit fills us with wisdom and revelation, revealing who God is to us.That revelation will always move us to act. When we see God for who He is, our desires will begin to shift and eventually become the things that He desires. As He changes our lives, we will long for others to know who God is and what He has done for us and how He desires to do the same for all.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father, show me who you are today. Fill me with the joy of knowing that no matter what I face with You as my foundation that nothing can overtake me. Show me and impress upon me all the things you love and want me to love, and empty me of the things which don’t build up your kingdom. Then lead me in your love to love those around me with the love of Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Psalm 149:1
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the godly!