Will Your House Stand?

Everybody knows foundations are important.

In fact, we often take them for granted because they rarely fail.  We build upon them according to our objectives.  Some of us put a lot of thought and resources into that process.

Then again, some of us don’t.

That must be why somebody created the story about The Three Little Pigs.  But even though there’s no mention of foundations in this well known fable, that doesn’t make them irrelevant. Every moral narrative is built on something.

The Bible teaches me two critical points to remember about building things.  First, whatever supports my work on must be sound, otherwise, it might not be able to support what I’ve put on it. [see: Matt. 7:24-27]  It also demonstrates that, regardless of how durable that substructure is, I need to be prudent about what and how well I build on it too. [see: 1Cor. 3:8-15]

So why should all this information be relevant to me as Jesus Christ’s disciple?

Because discipleship demands building up and strengthening the learning process. In order for me to “hear and act” on Jesus’ words [Matt. 7:24-27] convincingly, I need to build strong, godly relationships with other men who can teach me, encourage me and even learn from me.

If wanting to be a disciple doesn’t motivate me to expand both the depth and number of those relationships, then I’m doing something wrong.  And, if I don’t see any reason to evaluate my work as a disciple in order to be more confident about how it’ll hold up on the day when Christ tests its integrity, perhaps I should re-think why I’m doing it. [see: 1Cor. 3:11-15]

Building is growing in every aspect of the Christian life.

Building begins by seeking out the handful of men living in this age whom the Lord has given ears to hear what His Good News is really about.  It’s meeting with them, one-on-one, early in the morning or late at night—often at a moments notice, teaching [or learning] how to apply what Jesus taught to real-time situations.  It’s committing valuable time to study the Scriptures with those men and benefitting from what I learn and from what I see them learn.

It’s learning from one another how to fully appropriate God’s gifts for His purposes, and developing  tools and disciplines for fighting the biggest battle in the war—that is, against the deceitfulness of sin. 

The Psalmist David cried:  “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” [Psa. 11:3]  Indeed, some foundations of this world shall be destroyed.  But the righteous needn’t fear.  The only One worth building on shall never be destroyed.

I’m investing my time, talent and capital in other lives on a personal level to build my house.

But I’m not a careless builder.  I’m a sagacious little pig.