Thursday, August 12: What is your foundation?

In modern construction, we always dig down before building up. In fact, modern buildings have either a shallow foundation or a deep foundation. With a shallow foundation, we dig down three feet or so into the ground, while the deep foundation varies in relation to the size of the building, and goes much deeper than three feet in most architectural plans. Basically, the foundation disperses the weight, enabling even structures the size of the Empire State Building to stand strong. After laying the foundation, another essential step occurs in the laying of the cornerstone, also known as the foundation stone. In a foundation of a building using masonry, the first stone placed is the most important, as every other stone is set in relation to that cornerstone, which in turn, determines the layout of the entire building. What is your faith built on?


46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6:46-49


This basic, construction knowledge was even known in biblical times, as they knew that a rock foundation was much more solid. The true test of a foundation never occurred on an average day, but when a storm occurred, was the foundation solid enough to support the house? In the same manner, our faith is important on a daily basis, but when difficulties arise, our faith will not sustain us unless that faith is built on a solid rock of a foundation. As Jesus reminded us in Luke above, if we follow His instructions, our house will not fall. Those instructions resonate throughout the Bible. Reading the Bible haphazardly certainly does not offer the same benefit. Do you wait until the end of the day to open God’s Word, only to find that after reading 10 words, your head hits the pillow? Instead, if you want that house of faith to stand, you must dig deeply when reading God’s Word, as we must dig down before building up. Romans 10:17 reminds us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Deeper knowledge of the Bible increases faith, and consequently, solidifies that foundation!


Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?
Matthew 21:42


Jesus is the foundation of our faith and additionally, He is the stone that the builders rejected who has become the chief cornerstone. Without the life, death and resurrection of our Savior, our lives and faith would be useless. Where else could we turn?


If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
Psalm 11:3

Howling winds, torrential downpours, cataclysmic floods and powerful earthquakes will all cause destruction in our house of faith, unless that faith is founded on Jesus Christ. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand! If you feel like your faith is shaky, spend more time in God’s Word. He is the answer to all of your questions!


Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Isaiah 28:16


19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22