By Matthew 7:24–27 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. 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. 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.”
I, like most folks, began building my life [my house] upon the foundation of sand. I would say it was a pretty good looking house from the outside. There were no major storms in my early years and so it appeared to be standing firm.
By the time I was twenty years old, I had two DWI’s, one minor consumption, and one driving after revocation on my record. I was in jail in St. Cloud. My house had crumbled. While I sat behind those cold steel bars I made a decision that would change my life. I decided that I would quit drinking alcohol.
I got out after 20 days for good behavior. My house had been destroyed by a storm and I decided I would patch it back up with good works. It took some time, but soon my house was standing again and looked pretty good.
I ran into a good friend from high school and we started dating. We made a covenant before God a year later and began doing my life with another. We had a couple of kids and decided to begin attending church. My house was looking better and better.
A storm came again when I was thirty years old. My daughter Rylee was two years old and came down with a severe case of pneumonia. Her lung was completely filled with badness and the outside of her lung started to be coated with a hardened rind that needed removal. She was very sick. Karie and I were in the hospital with her for two weeks. I was building the actual home we live in today. I was stressed and feeling helpless to accomplish all the tasks needed to finish our house. I could do nothing to heal our baby girl. The life I had patched up was crumbling again and this time my great house would fall. I had built my house upon sand and the storm was rolling in. Within a couple of weeks my house fell. It was not able to stand upon the sandy foundation of good works.
The storm of suffering washed away my house. The eyes of gospel grace enabled me to see that the foundation was nowhere to be found. I saw that I was the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. I also saw through the Spirit of God that Jesus loves to take homeless fools and give them a corner stone to begin laying a new foundation of rock. At thirty years old, I became a Christian. Jesus tells me in the above text that I am now the wise man. I truly can take no credit for my salvation. Jesus opened my eyes to see myself as bankrupt, and him as my remedy and only hope. I love him so much for taking me out of spiritual poverty, adopting me as his beloved child, and giving me a new home with a new foundation!
The storms of life are intended to reveal whether we are resting upon a solid foundation or not. Are you building your life upon the words of Jesus? For He says,
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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.
Leading Family Devotions 