The Wise Man Built...

I heard a sermon last week on this passage (click above), and it got me thinking - praying, actually, in the context of today's world. A lot of us sang this song as children, and are familiar with the story. Just a couple points to consider:

1) I noted how the storm is inevitable. It doesn't say if the rains come, the house might fall or stand. Jesus said exactly what He meant to say: the storms are coming. You weather them upon Christ's foundation, or at some point you fall. And the beautiful part about the storms coming to both the saved and unsaved is the freedom it gives us, the freedom of will.

If I walk up to you and offer you a) a bullet to the head, or b) 1 million dollars, I have not given you a choice. I have given you a million dollars. In the same way, if the Christian life was instantly sunshine and roses upon accepting Christ, and the unsaved still had to struggle through this world everyday - what would everyone do? Would they embrace the Christian life out of love and obedience to our Savior? Or would they embrace the Christian life as the "easy street" that it would then be? While I don't enjoy the storms, I am amazed at a God who loves me enough to send them my way.

2) If a house is going to protect you in a storm... you have to be inside it. And while this sounds dangerously like common sense, I know I don't do a very good job at obeying it. I stray constantly from where God wants me to be. Daily I fail the tests of obedience, but God continues to graciously give me another day to try again. We have to seek His Will in our lives, and understand what he would have for us, the house he wants us to dwell in. Think of the man who tries to weather the storm on the rock, but without a home. He may survive it, but he'll struggle in many ways he would not have had to, if he'd only stayed inside.

Just a couple things I pondered, hope they had some value.

And you know it was fun to yell "SPLAT!" at the end of the song. :)