Maintain the Foundation

~~~ 2 Kings24: 8-17 ~~~ Psalm 79: 1b-2, 3-5, 8-9 ~~~ Matthew 7:21-29 ~~~

Jesus has some harsh and disappointing words for his disciples.

Making yourself busy does not assure that you are doing the will of the Father.

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Jesus gives me the impression that much of what people were saying they had done in his name was insincere. They were really just scam artists using the name of Jesus.

You cannot fool Jesus. He casts them away and calls them evildoers.

Jesus wants the genuine you. He wants the real you.

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

In this section of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus is giving a couple examples.

Would you choose to build your house on a sturdy rock foundation or one of sand?

If you have a foundation built on faith and a strong belief system it makes it much easier to get through the tough times. You really do not know for sure how strong your faith is if you never have to weather a storm. You see when your life is 'perefect' you start to take things for granted. When you take things for granted you start neglecting the care of those things.

How you handle the storms in life are a good indication of how well you have kept up with your maintenance schedule. When the storms of life come; if your foundation is on sand you are more apt to get blown away. It is much more difficult to believe God is present even in the midst of floods and winds when you foundation is weak.

Maintain your faith so that when storms are upon you there will be no doubt in your mind about doing the will of the Father. You cannot pretend to have a strong foundation when the storms of life are crashing at your door.

Pray for strength in times of plenty so that in dark times you will be at peace.

Make the time for routine maintenance.