Wednesday, September 8

Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Psalm 86:11

Ask God to help you today to allow his word to examine your heart and life – and to help you learn to increasingly put into practice the truth of his word.


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 7:25


A friend of mine used to have a cottage on Myrtle Beach. It was one of those classic beach houses – just 50 yards or so from the ocean and built on pylons so it looked like it was on stilts. He doesn’t have that cottage anymore – not because he sold it – but because a hurricane-force storm quite literally blew it away. Completely. Right down to the pylons that supported the frame. Gone.

But not every beach house was destroyed in that particular storm. Some remain to this day. But my friend’s house was washed into the sea in a matter of a few hours. The difference between the homes that withstood the power of the hurricane and those that were washed to sea was not in the force of the wind that beat against them. Rather, the difference lay in how the homes were constructed. Those built on the sand – that is set up on pylons – were quickly destroyed. Those with foundations reaching beneath the sand to the solid rock beneath, withstood the storm.

Jesus is saying that our lives are a bit like a beach house. We can build our lives on that which is essentially sand – and hope a hurricane never comes. Or we can build our lives on a rock – that which is sturdy enough to withstand the storm when and if it comes. The question, of course, is how do we know if we are building on sand or on the rock?

The answer to that question comes down to truth. What is the truth about human existence? What is the truth about God? What is the truth about salvation? What is the truth about eternal life? Who do we trust to tell us the truth about each of these ultimate questions? Do we trust our modern cultural attitudes that tell us there is no ultimate spiritual truth? Do we trust ourselves to create our own spiritual truth? Or do we trust the word of God, which claims to be true, unchanging and absolutely trustworthy?

The point is we have to trust someone to tell us what is sand and what is rock – because we are all building a house! No one builds a home and only after it is built inquires about the quality of the foundation. Yet, when it comes to spiritual truth, people do this all the time. Maybe you have spent a significant portion of your life building on sand – only to realize that your foundation is lacking. Take some time today to thank God for his word, his truth, his salvation and his promise – and ask him to continue to strengthen and deepen your foundation in him.

Brian Coffey