It reminds me of a children's song, you may have heard. It tells how the wise man built his house upon the rock, the foolish man built his house upon the sand, the rains came down and the floods came up, and the house on the rock stood firm, but the house on the sand went CRASH! I’ve heard this song many times, and realized the metaphor.
The house represents your life. The rock is Jesus Christ. The sand is the “world,” or building your life around things such as money, success, status, or even your kids or family. The rains and floods are the problems in life. If you look at the song, you will see both the wise man and the foolish man experience the rains and the floods. Having your house built on the rock, or your life built around Jesus does not mean you won’t have problems and trouble. The difference, simply put, is whether or not you stand firm or go “crash.”
While I always “got” the song as a really cute kids song, I never realized that it is based directly on a bible verse. (And no one ever accused me of being the brightest bulb in the chandelier either!) Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (NIV)
Knowing that Jesus said it (and not some children's song writer) makes me ask myself: “Is my home built on the Rock?” When the storms of life come in, am I going to be able to stand firm, or will I crash? Whether in the huge struggles of life, such as dealing with my bi-polar mom; or the smaller struggles, like getting my preschooler to let me brush her teeth; I’ve found that a relationship with Jesus can make the difference in every aspect of my life.
So how about you? Are you ready for the rain?
2 comments:
Good post today! Its a very important verse, and I think I might just have to put it on an index card and place it on my mirror. We all have varying "rains". It could be a sprinkle/drizzle or a down pour, but whatever it is, its still important to not crash. I have to remember this when dealing with a 7year old's attitude!
Blessings~
Alyce
"On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand."
Your blog brought the grown-up version of the kids' song to mind. It also had me thinking that sand is not static but sinking. We may be in a sin pattern but not recognize or admit to it. We continue to head down, only to feel like "we're not on top of things." And that feeling of having your head only above the sand is not unfamiliar to me (and it's not comfortable either!).
Thank God that He raises us back up on the Rock! We can't get ourselves out of a sinking sand mess. But, God can leave us soaking wet by the Holy Spirit's refreshing on the Rock of Jesus with sand at our feet.
Thanks for the Scripture!
Post a Comment