I grew up in South Louisiana, just about 70 miles northwest of Grand Isle, Louisiana’s only inhabited barrier island. Grand Isle is made primarily of sand that has been carried down and deposited there by the Mississippi River. When Hurricane Ida hit in 2021, every structure on the island was damaged, and nearly half were completely destroyed. Sadly, Grand Isle gets smaller every year, and without major human intervention, it will soon cease to exist. Jesus used a similar example near the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew.
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT)
You can’t build your house on the sand and get mad at the ocean.
Ron Barnard
While Grand Isle hasn’t got any rocks to build on, Jesus clearly states that these two people had a choice: build on rock or build on sand. Both the wise and the foolish person heard Jesus’ words; they had a rock-solid option for building their lives on. The difference wasn’t their exposure to truth; it was their response to it.
We can learn a few things from this passage. First, each of us has a house to build. We can’t use anyone else’s faith to shelter us. A second-hand relationship with God will protect us like a cardboard house in a storm. We each have a faith-life, and building our lives without the truth of God’s Word as the foundation will produce instability. Our lives will be prone to crashing.
Not only that, storms should be expected. Winds, waves, Cat 5 hurricanes- all of these will come to us just as surely as peaceful breezes and sunshine. The determining factor for storms isn’t whether we’ve built our lives on God’s truth or a lie. Storms come to everyone, but the life on the rock of God’s Word will withstand them, while the life built on the sand will topple in storms and rough surf. As Ron Barnard says, “You can’t build your house on the sand and get mad at the ocean!”
So what’s the difference? How do I know if my life is built to last? The difference is obedience to Christ. Building my life on my good ideas and plans, what this culture says I need, or my own selfish desires will always result in a sandy foundation. Instead, we need to build on the solid, unchanging truths in God’s Word.
We’ve heard the truth. We’re building a house. The only question is whether we will build something that outlasts the storms that are coming. Obedience to Jesus is the rock that will keep us standing. Let’s build our lives His way!
All verses NLT unless stated otherwise.
Photo from CNN
Leave a comment