What Kind of House are You Building?
From your Bibles, read Luke 6:46-49.
You and I are witnessing perhaps the greatest building boom in the history of the world.
Houses, stadiums, sports complexes, shopping malls, skyscrapers, cities and roads are all being built to accommodate an ever-increasing populace.
Man has always been a builder. History, as well as the Bible, records the attempts by man to build something that lasts forever such as the tower of Babel, the hanging gardens of Babylon and the palaces of King Herod.
The Bible speaks of Jesus preparing a city called the New Jerusalem – 1500 miles high, 1500 miles wide, & 1500 miles deep.
Scripture tells us in building we should count the costs, build on a solid foundation, use proper materials, build with living stones and build carefully and consistently.
The Bible uses the word “house” as a metaphor for a life or a soul.
In Jude 20, we are told to build up yourselves (founded) on your most holy faith (make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher) praying in the Holy Spirit.
Building our lives is an hourly, daily process. It proceeds with every thought we admit into our mind, with every feeling we cherish in our heart, and with every purpose we form in our soul.
That which we are today is the whole result of all that we have been doing, of all our invisible thoughts, words and deeds up to this present moment.
We are all builders; we are all planning, preparing, laying our foundation, erecting our walls and finishing the cosmetics.
According to this story, you are either a wise master builder or a foolish builder. You are either building on a sure foundation or building on the earth (sand).
Both men built a house, and perhaps both super structures were sound and beautiful. The difference is in the foundation.
As in building a building so also in building a life, it is the foundation that matters most.
What is the foundation upon which you are building your life today? …Your home, your marriage, your career or your business?
In Matthew 7 and Luke 6, we find this story. Each man records it with a slight difference in words.
Matthew says the wise man built upon a rock.
Luke adds the intensifying line, “he dug deep.”
Architects and builders are guided by a simple rule – in order to build high, you must dig deep.
To build a life without Christ, His Word, His power is to build on sand, earth.
When we are obedient to His precepts, submitted to His authority, devoted to His commands, we are building on a rock.
All of us are building our lives right now for eternity and all of us will live the life we build.
Some are merely building a shop, a business, giving their whole lives to it and their entire strength to make it strong.
Some are building a prison in which, by the power of their own evil deeds – alcoholism, drugs, immorality, perversion – they will suffer eternal imprisonment.
We are called to build and to be a temple of God, a life in which God can dwell and fill with His presence and power. A temple can only be built upon the Rock which is Jesus Christ – His Word, His blood, His life. So, what kind of house are you building?
