Outer Collapse - Inner Strength Part 3

My OUTER collapses take place because my INNER strength cannot sustain them.

Build on the Rock

Matthew 7:24 “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: 25 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. 26 “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: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

To get a simpler picture of this parable I am going to look at it in the Message Bible.

"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."

I think that while the Message presents a clear picture it misinterprets a portion of what Jesus was saying. Quote "These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life. homeowner improvements to your standard of living. Remember back a few days ago when I read the verse that said, "The church is not peripheral to the world"? Well that's what Jesus is saying so plainly here. He says, "Ed, what I have you doing is not just a homeowner improvement to yours or anybody else's standard of living." He goes on to say, "They are foundational words, words to build a life on." My mind immediately focused on the word foundation. In America foundations are made from concrete. So I went to the Internet and read much of what it said about concrete and how it's made. I began intermingling foundation, concrete and God into one illustration SO THAT I COULD UNDERSTAND IT BETTER. But I began to hear, "WRONG!" Wrong? Yes wrong! I recalled the first thing I read about concrete. "Too much water reduces concrete strength, while too little will make the concrete unworkable." If I was going to compare God to concrete I'd have to resolve this issue of to much water/God reduces the strength, while too little makes it/God unworkable. Okay, wrong. To say that God is concrete is limiting God. Concrete does not just hang out there suspended in air. It rests upon ground. And the ground rest upon gravity etc., etc.

Then Jesus says according to the Message, "If you work these words into your life." STOP! WRONG!! This is where I think the writer of the Message missed it. We are not to work the word into our life. That says to me home improvement. I've tried that for most of my life. I believe what Jesus was saying and still is today is that we are to work our lives into the word. "The world is peripheral to the church." Not, "the church is peripheral to the world."

Let me see if I can summarize this quickly. If I am to work the word into my life that means that my life is the constant and the word is variable. But if I work my life into the word, well... then the word is the constant and life is the variable. If life is the constant and I add a little word here and there when I feel like it, is it any wonder that I get a roller coaster ride. But... if the word is the constant the absolute then I am an heir to the word which includes my Father's love, and grace. Life can be more consistent because the word is consistent and the Father is consistent. I'm not presenting a perfect life. It's not without trials and tribulations. It's not without effort. But it is contsistant because of who He is. I always have access to His love and am always adorned with His grace.