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 the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. Matthew 7:24–27
When David became secure in his position as king over Israel and there was a period of general peace, David decided (as many kings do) that it was time to build some things and to leave his indelible mark on the landscape of Palestine. After David captured Jerusalem and named it his capital, the king of Tyre brought cedars from Lebanon and built David a palace (2 Samuel 5:11). After this David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem from the place it had been since the days of Eli, and he set up for it what amounted to a tent in his back yard––something David came to see as a problem (6:17; 7:1–2). When David announced to Nathan his intentions to build a glorious house for the ark, God sent word by the prophet, “You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth” (1 Chronicles 22:8). God told David that although it was good that he had such an honorable intention, David would not build a house for God: God would build a house for David (2 Samuel 7:11)! We can be sure that the house that God built for David was greater than any he could have built on his own. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Son of David used the building of a house as a metaphor for the building of one’s life. What can we do to make sure that the houses we build will withstand the storms of life?
If you want a strong house, you must start with a strong foundation. Because foundations are expensive, you might be tempted to skimp on them when building your house, especially when you consider the fact that nobody will ever see them. If you can cut the cost of the foundation, you will have extra to spend on the more attractive above-ground features. None of your money-saving cheats are noticeable once the house is built, at least until the foundation fails and cracks appear in the superstructure. When God began to build the church, He chose Jesus for the foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20–22; Matthew 16:16–18).
When it comes to our lives, can we find a better foundation than Jesus Christ? Paul said that his prayer for the Ephesians was that Christ might dwell in their hearts and that they might be “rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17). The word translated “grounded” here is the verbal form of the root word that is usually translated “foundation.” Paul likewise urged the Colossians to “continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast” and not to be removed from the hope of the gospel (Colossians 1:23). Again he uses the word “grounded.” What does a life grounded in Christ look like? If He truly is our foundation, His word will be our guide for life (Matthew 7:24), and His love will be the basis for everything we say and do.
We are told that Abraham “waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). In the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus does not offer a way to avoid the storms of life, but He does assure us that when our foundation is sure, these storms––like those that rocked the disciples’ boat on Galilee––needn’t ever concern us!