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Saturday, November 20, 2004
In Matthew 7: 24--27, we have some words of Jesus:
"Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.
And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against the house, and it fell, and great was it's fall."
Basic Bible study methods show you a few contrasts. There's a wise man and a foolish man. There's a house on sand and a house on rock. One house stood and one had a great fall. Pretty basic stuff.
Notice that both men heard the words of Christ. There were differences in responses, though. One acted upon them. The other chose not to.
And the rain came down on both.
And the floods came on both.
And the winds came on both.
And the houses had bursts against them both.
I often get frustrated with Christian leaders who don't tell both sides of the spiritual life. Sometimes we try to paint a pie-in-the-sky view that if you follow Christ there's pretty much only angels with high fives and pizza all the time. That hasn't been my experience...and I firmly believe that if anyone is honest at all, it isn't their experience, either.
Christians have their daughters die.
Christians have job losses.
Christians get cancer.
Christians have car accidents.
Christians have spouses walk out on them.
I could go on, but you get my point.
Christians and non-Christians, in reality, have the same lives. The storms come to both. So, what's the practical difference between the two lives?
Hope.
Christians have hope.
Our houses are built on the rock, which gives us the proper perspective on our troubles. We are not permanent residents of earth. This isn't all we get and then we die. There's more to our lives, even in the dark days, than what we see. What is seen in indeed temporary, and what is unseen is indeed eternal.
Like Psalm 130, we hope in the Lord and His Word...like Jesus said in Matthew.
Hope has it's reasons...and it's what separates us from those who don't believe in the practical sense. And it helps us move from head to heart like no other if we learn to practically apply hope...
...because we are not of this world.
And there will be a dwelling place for me in eternity. And there will be a supper in which my King will eat and drink with me, since He's been waiting since 33 A.D. to do it. He will ride a white horse and win a military victory like none other. He will come and get me when the trumpet sounds...
...and those realities put a few earthly setbacks in true perspective...
...and gives me the freedom to walk worthy in the storms.
Brent 1:13 AM
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