If you’ve ever constructed a house you know how important the foundation is. We added an addition to one of our houses and the foundation was ¼” low where the new foundation joined the old foundation. My brother fought that discrepancy from floor to roof and couldn’t make it right. The gutters always leaked and the water always flowed the wrong direction due that small error in the foundation.
Jesus ends the sermon on the mount with an illustration of two houses. I heard something this morning that got me thinking about these two houses and their foundations. What do the rock and the sand represent? I can’t ignore that Jesus states that the rock represents His words. So, the challenge is understanding what Jesus has been trying to communicate with His words in this sermon.
One of the consistent messages in the sermon is that we have a God who loves us and desires the best for us. He knows what we need and He is working to provide that. When we are certain of this foundation we can do what Jesus challenges us to do and build a house that shows people what God looks like. I think the rock, the foundation, is Jesus and what He represents, the incredible love of God for me. I am a beloved child and I can trust the words of my Father.
Thinking this way is not our natural tendency. Instead we tend to hear Jesus’ words as a series of rules we can’t keep. When we build our house on rules rather than relationship we are in trouble. God’s love never fails, but my performance will never stand up to the storms of life.
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