Building a Deep Foundation

When people say, “They don’t build them like they used to,” I think they had my great grandfather’s house in mind. It is a house with two layers of brick for the exterior walls with a rock foundation that is at least one foot thick. It was built more than 100 years ago and now has it’s fifth generation living there. This is the picture that comes to mind for me when I read Luke 6:46-49.

In these verses, Jesus taught his disciples to act on their faith. In Luke 6:46, he told them, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say (NASB)?” This followed his instruction to them to work to please God, not people. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” he told them in Luke 6:35-36.

Jesus told his disciples to dig deep; to work to live out their faith; to rely on God as they lay a foundation for life on this earth. Jesus is telling us that the work is hard and the critics will try to dissuade you — to sway you to build something that takes a lot less work. Yet when the trials come, your hard work will pay off. As verse 48 says, “when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built (48).”

A faith built on inaction, on a tepid response to the gospel, is a surface faith that won’t last. “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great (49).”

The house my grandfather built has stood the test of time. It has survived hundreds of severe storms because of its solid construction. Yet even though it’s solidly built, it is only a temporary earthly home. The house our Father God builds for us is an eternal home that will stand the test of all time. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2).”