be the wise man who built his house on the rock

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and when the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was built on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25
Yesterday I finally heard what this passage is all about. I always thought I was the one who had to do the work of building. I had to choose the ground properly. I had to calculate and select the materials for the building. I had to make sure that the house was built on strong foundation or it would tumble down in the storm. I had focused on the word “I” and no wonder I failed.
Yesterday a speaker told us that it was the other way round. He asked, “Do you let Jesus dig deep into you?” “Do you let God build into you deeply, all the way to the bedrock?” He was preaching on something else but he opened his sermon by mentioning this passage and asked us these questions.
What? I never thought of this passage this way. It makes sense as it tallies with what the apostle Paul had told us. He reminded us that we are God’s workmanship. It is God who builds into us. Another preacher writer also had been writing on this subject of work too and has been hammering into my head and my heart that Christians’ main problem is that we do not let God work into us. We like to be in control and feel important by working for God! It is obvious that our foundation is like sand if we persist on serving and working without allowing God to work deep into us and build our character!
The depth and strength of our character comes from God’s working in our lives. There is no way any one can work (whatever good works he does) his way to strength and power without God’s building and molding him.
My application: Let God work deep into me and build me on His solid foundation. Continue to rise early to seek God and worship Him, pray and intercede for others too. Continue to read His Words in chunks and be alert to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
This morning while praying for my church’s recent project of raising a big sum $15million to build a mega building, I was filled with the idea of writing to the pastor and urging him not to proceed even though the church building committee had already collected over $5million.
I could see my thoughts gathering clearly. Recently I had been thinking how to save the world from its fast track of sliding downhill. I had the idea of asking every family to grow organic vegetables and rear chickens or goats in our backyards. I thought of home schooling and keeping a self sufficient family independent of the world economy. I thought of re-cycling practically everything and conserving instead of destroying and depleting more rare resources. I read up on the subject and discovered that more and more people are thinking on this future. Today I read about the US President’s wife doing exactly the same project of gardening in the White House!
I could envisage the pictures of a church growing fresh vegetables and fruits and even keeping sheep and goats to support the unemployed congregation members and families. The pastor may ask how he will accommodate the worship service members if the existing hall becomes too full. Well, I saw in my vision people sitting on grass, under trees, in glass houses, in sheds etc. Loudspeakers are fixed on the trees and church organ music filled the air everywhere in the huge organic garden. Just think, a bit of Paris (the gardens in the city where we used to sit around and listen to classical music under trees) right here. After church service, healthy lunches can be bought at reasonable prices too.
Bible references: I keep reading a lot about agricultural and pastoral blessings from God and none about construction. GROW instead of CONSTRUCT appears to be the key word for receiving supernatural blessing. Grow something organic that gives life and generates produce in return. Do not construct something dead which depreciates with wear and tear. (Not to mention the wasting of resources and spoiling the environment). When we build, be like Abraham. Build altars for God. (Not monuments for men).
AAA Jack
March 23, 2009