Building a foundation
This week is on Luke 6:46-49:
These are verses that are worth coming back to. They are words of advice on how to handle the word of God, and words of warning about what happens when people take it lightly, and only store it emotion-deep. The two look the same from a distance, but only one will survive the test, and surviving the test is what the test is all about.
It's more expensive to build with a foundation than without one. There's digging, and removing anything weak that could shift your house out of the way, before the building actually starts. Without a foundation, you just start building. But when the houses are done, they look the same...at first. Most people, given two houses that look the same, and no examples of where a bad house collapsed, will take the cheaper house.
Building a personal conviction upon something God has told us is the same way. We can believe lightly, and appear confident, or we can believe deeply, and look the same way. To believe lightly, we need only say "I believe it." To believe deeply, we need to root into the core of who we are, and strengthen every part of us that will come into contact with this new truth. That's expensive.
Let's say you felt like God wanted you to quit smoking cigarettes. That's really hard to do. A person with a shallow belief would say that God told them to quit, and would then come up with some other reasoning when they start smoking again two weeks later. A person with a deep belief would meditate on what God told them. They would see the cigarettes separating them from God, or his purpose for them. They would examine every part of their life that triggers the smoking urge, and pray into it to be strong in the face of temptation. They would remove all cigarettes and ash trays from their homes and vehicles. They would find people they trust to hold them accountable. The list goes on longer than I have room to write it.
The strong belief says "This is truth. I need to put it where it can't be shaken, so that I can dwell in it." If God told someone with a strong belief that they would be cured of cancer, even a new tumor the size of a watermelon wouldn't shake their resolve. They've already dug out the areas of their soul where they are weak, and replaced it with the truth "God will heal you." They've already considered the "What if?" They've concluded that God's word is stronger.
A good example of a belief people have a hard time with is "God loves you and has a perfect plan for your life." In a specific sense, things may go very badly, but in a big picture sense, God's plan for us is good. So, if you were to make that a deep belief, you wouldn't be shaken in your faith when you lose your job, or get sick, or wreck your car. The tempest of things going wrong doesn't sweep away the truth that God ultimately has a good result in mind for you. As someone with a deep belief in what God has told you, you've already decided that this belief is for keeps, and that this fact will not get knocked out of your head by something new or convincing. If you don't have any truths you're completely sure God has given you, that's a good one to start with for practice. Don't just make one up.
How deep are you willing to put your beliefs? If it's something important enough to save your life, are you willing to put in the time it takes to dig it in? Are you willing to remove whatever might stand in the way of that belief? Are you willing to look the worst case scenarios in the eye, and decide in advance to stay on the path? Are you willing to call for others to help you to dig that foundation, keeping you accountable, interceding, etc? If you are, a lot of the prayers in the Bible make more sense.
If God came to you one day and said "Worry is going to kill you," would you take it seriously? If he said "Alcohol will cost you your ministry if you don't quit it," would you make the necessary changes? If he said "You have to take your critical tongue seriously, because you're wounding my people," would you pay attention? Or would you say "Wow, you're right" and then declare victory and quit? How about if a doctor or one of your friends said those things? Would you trust God's word the same as the word of a trusted person? If not, your trust is weak.
The difference between a well-built house and a flimsy house is in the preparation. The person who puts in the foundation understands that it is going to be tested. The world is going to throw everything it's got at this house. It needs to stand. The person without the foundation just wants to be done building. The future eternity is less important to them than the inconvenient moment.
A flimsy house is no place to be when the storm comes. You can't just dig a foundation as the waters approach. The time to be sure is before the storm comes. The same goes for shallow beliefs. Before your faith in God gets tested, get your beliefs on a solid foundation.
Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
These are verses that are worth coming back to. They are words of advice on how to handle the word of God, and words of warning about what happens when people take it lightly, and only store it emotion-deep. The two look the same from a distance, but only one will survive the test, and surviving the test is what the test is all about.
It's more expensive to build with a foundation than without one. There's digging, and removing anything weak that could shift your house out of the way, before the building actually starts. Without a foundation, you just start building. But when the houses are done, they look the same...at first. Most people, given two houses that look the same, and no examples of where a bad house collapsed, will take the cheaper house.
Building a personal conviction upon something God has told us is the same way. We can believe lightly, and appear confident, or we can believe deeply, and look the same way. To believe lightly, we need only say "I believe it." To believe deeply, we need to root into the core of who we are, and strengthen every part of us that will come into contact with this new truth. That's expensive.
Let's say you felt like God wanted you to quit smoking cigarettes. That's really hard to do. A person with a shallow belief would say that God told them to quit, and would then come up with some other reasoning when they start smoking again two weeks later. A person with a deep belief would meditate on what God told them. They would see the cigarettes separating them from God, or his purpose for them. They would examine every part of their life that triggers the smoking urge, and pray into it to be strong in the face of temptation. They would remove all cigarettes and ash trays from their homes and vehicles. They would find people they trust to hold them accountable. The list goes on longer than I have room to write it.
The strong belief says "This is truth. I need to put it where it can't be shaken, so that I can dwell in it." If God told someone with a strong belief that they would be cured of cancer, even a new tumor the size of a watermelon wouldn't shake their resolve. They've already dug out the areas of their soul where they are weak, and replaced it with the truth "God will heal you." They've already considered the "What if?" They've concluded that God's word is stronger.
A good example of a belief people have a hard time with is "God loves you and has a perfect plan for your life." In a specific sense, things may go very badly, but in a big picture sense, God's plan for us is good. So, if you were to make that a deep belief, you wouldn't be shaken in your faith when you lose your job, or get sick, or wreck your car. The tempest of things going wrong doesn't sweep away the truth that God ultimately has a good result in mind for you. As someone with a deep belief in what God has told you, you've already decided that this belief is for keeps, and that this fact will not get knocked out of your head by something new or convincing. If you don't have any truths you're completely sure God has given you, that's a good one to start with for practice. Don't just make one up.
How deep are you willing to put your beliefs? If it's something important enough to save your life, are you willing to put in the time it takes to dig it in? Are you willing to remove whatever might stand in the way of that belief? Are you willing to look the worst case scenarios in the eye, and decide in advance to stay on the path? Are you willing to call for others to help you to dig that foundation, keeping you accountable, interceding, etc? If you are, a lot of the prayers in the Bible make more sense.
If God came to you one day and said "Worry is going to kill you," would you take it seriously? If he said "Alcohol will cost you your ministry if you don't quit it," would you make the necessary changes? If he said "You have to take your critical tongue seriously, because you're wounding my people," would you pay attention? Or would you say "Wow, you're right" and then declare victory and quit? How about if a doctor or one of your friends said those things? Would you trust God's word the same as the word of a trusted person? If not, your trust is weak.
The difference between a well-built house and a flimsy house is in the preparation. The person who puts in the foundation understands that it is going to be tested. The world is going to throw everything it's got at this house. It needs to stand. The person without the foundation just wants to be done building. The future eternity is less important to them than the inconvenient moment.
A flimsy house is no place to be when the storm comes. You can't just dig a foundation as the waters approach. The time to be sure is before the storm comes. The same goes for shallow beliefs. Before your faith in God gets tested, get your beliefs on a solid foundation.
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