September 17, 2021 | Foundation
I grew up in the city of Minot, North Dakota. It was an excellent place to be raised because dangers were low. I can’t recall a time we ever locked our front door and when we went out to play, our parents never had to worry about us because they knew the neighbors would keep an eye on us. It really was a terrific place to call home.
That’s not to say everything was perfect. Through the city runs the Mouse River and Minot is positioned on its southern border as it makes its way back up into Canada. Because of this, the city is susceptible to flooding.
Back in 1969 I can remember an amphibious vehicle picking us up at the front door because our front yard was filled with water. To us kids it was cool, but to our parents it was a disaster.
In 2014, the situation was much, much worse. This time the water went to the top of our 10 foot ceilings on the main floor. Luckily they had plenty of warning to evacuate ahead of time.
As you can imagine, this damaged the house significantly. So harsh were the conditions, in fact, that some of the houses in our neighborhood were loosened from their foundations. Because of this, they were a total loss and had to be torn down.
The loss of a foundation is devastating to a house and its devastating to people as well. With nothing to attach too, were left wandering aimlessly with nothing to give us assurance. With no foundation, there is no security. With nothing to stabilize you, one can only expect chaos.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we know that the very best of foundations has been given to us in Him. He promises us stability and security and even the floods of sin and death can not overcome Him. He says as much in Luke 6:47-49, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
The world we live in is filled with opportunities to lose our footing. When we go into it without a firm foundation in Christ, its as if we have chosen to let the world dictate our every step. Sometimes those steps fall on solid ground but far too often they end up in a flood of misfortune and bad choices.
In 1st Corinthians 3, Paul is teaching the importance of building for yourself a strong foundation in Christ. He says, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
If your foundation is made up of worldliness, then you can only expect results that are imperfect. But if your foundation is laid in faith in Christ, you have the surety of one who will never leave you or forsake you, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
God says to Isaiah in Isaiah 28:16, “”Behold, I am the One who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: “Whoever believes will not be in haste.” Jesus Christ is that tested stone. By His death and resurrection, He has laid the cornerstone which cannot be moved and the foundation that will never give way to worldliness. Trust in Christ as your foundation and rest in the assurance of His promises to be the secure and stable underpinning you need to overcome sin and death. Please pray with me:
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us your Son as our very foundation. Increase our faith so that we no longer depend on the world to give us stability. Help us to base our life in Your Word and grant us Your grace in the process. Amen.
