When I was a child, my Sunday School class would sing a song about building a house, along with actions. Perhaps you know it. It goes like this: “The wise man built his house upon the rock”—arms and hands spread wide—“and the rains came tumbling down”—hands raised high above the head, fingers wiggling downward to the knees. “The rains came down, and the floods came up”—crouch on the floor, palms up, and move up to imitate rising water—“and the house on the rock stood firm”—fists hit each other firmly, one on top of the other.
Then came the second verse: “The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the rains came tumbling down. The rains came down, and the floods came up…” The actions were the same until we came to the climax of the song: “…and the house on the sand fell down!” We would fall dramatically to the floor, deliberately trying to land on top of each other. The teacher, having lost control, would desperately try to regain our attention, while we laughed and squirmed.
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told this parable to the listening crowd. Some would only pay lip-service to his words. Others would ignore him. Jesus said they would be like those that built on sand. But those who took Jesus’ words to heart and put them into practice would be steady and secure.
A firm foundation is the key for both physical and spiritual construction. In the spiritual building of the church, the foundation is Jesus Christ. Those who have gone before us in the church have built on this foundation. We build with them on it, too, and we become part of the church that stands strong. We are not constructing individual spiritual houses. We build together—on the rock, Jesus Christ.
Don’t despair if you think the church looks like a jumbled, higgledy-piggledy mess—it has a solid foundation.
YOLO! You Only Live Once—so make sure you’re building on a firm foundation.