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107. Who Is Your Foundation?


Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:47-49
Key Verse: "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock."
Matthew 7:24

The final choice Jesus offers in his Sermon on the Mount, and on the Plain, has to do with foundations. What are you building your faith on: shifting opinions and relativism, or the solid bedrock of God's word? Your behavior, or fruit, will tell the world which one you choose. Both choices will face the storms of life, but only one will remain standing when those storms pass.

A house built on shifting sand is like a belief system that is based on feelings. It responds to the popular opinions and practices of today and is easily destroyed if those beliefs disappoint, lose their popularity, or are found to be untrue. Feelings are a wonderful gift from God, but they were never meant to be our guide. The popular catch phrase of the day, "trust your heart," is not biblical. In fact, in Jeremiah 17:9, God says about the human heart, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

On the other hand, God continues on to say in verse 17:10, of Jeremiah, "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." Jesus continues this theme when He says that "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. It's what we do, based on what we believe, that tells God, and those around us what we are really basing our belief in.

Do you believe that God is real? Do you believe that His word is inspired by Him and the only rule for faith, doctrine and conduct? (2 Tim. 3:16-17) Do you believe that He is with you always? (Matt. 28:19-20)? Do you step out in faith, as if you were walking on a solid rock because of those beliefs? Or, do you have doubts about the system of belief that you choose to follow, making it feel as though you are walking on shifting sand?

Be rooted in God's word, not your feelings, and you will know the truth that sets men free. (John 8:32) It is the real thing. You can test it and trust it. It will hold.

Hymn: My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less Than Jesus Blood and Righteousness"

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