It’s heartbreaking to see pictures of homes perilously hanging over empty spaces, the sand and dirt under them having been washed away. The recent hurricanes that have pummeled Florida’s coastlines are a clear demonstration of what Jesus said at the end of His sermon, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24–27)
I’m not trying to make light of the tragedy these homeowners are experiencing, but their terrible misfortune is an allegory of so many people’s lives. The same thing happens when a tornado tears through a town. All that remains after a lifetime of accumulation is a bunch of broken and jumbled pieces of wood.
When life is built on anything other than Jesus Christ, it will not stand when the storm of death arrives. Nurses attest to the difference between the death of Christ-followers compared to those who have given Him no freedom to work in their lives. The Christ-follower is at peace, but the other, not knowing what will be on the other side, tries to desperately hang on to life.
I always wonder who people turn to for comfort when tragedy strikes. If not God, who else? It was brought home to one man when his young daughter asked him, “Daddy, can we pray for our food?” Have you noticed in a restaurant that when people get their food, they dig right in? There doesn’t seem to be any awareness that it is God’s kindness that they have a meal.
People can even demonstrate a faulty foundation for life when things are going well, like the farmer with a bumper crop. Jesus told the story of the farmer’s idea: “‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:18–21)
So, whether your life is in shambles or whether everything is prosperous and going well, you need Jesus. Sometime death will visit you and then all your accumulations will be left behind. What is the foundation of your life? To whom do you give thanks when things go well? Jesus is the only One who can forgive you and give you eternal life. Have you asked Him for those yet?
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