“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.” (1 Cor. 3:10 NIV)
Strong foundation equals strong life.
When building a home, the first thing done is the foundation. A house can’t exist without a foundation. If the foundation isn’t strong, the house won’t survive the storms of life. A friend who owned a home in Florida experienced this reality. After purchasing the home, she learned the house sat on a sinkhole. Literally, the middle of her living room was falling into the earth. She had few options of what she could do. The cost to fix the house was extensive. She ended up selling the house, losing money in the deal.
Building our lives requires a firm foundation. If we don’t know what our foundation is, we can’t apply it to the world. When we build our lives on Jesus, He is the rock. His foundation does not move. We know this because thousands of years later, His word still stands the test of time.
Jesus is a firm foundation.
When I was younger, the only thing I cared about was my career. Jesus was in the back seat of my life, possibly even the trunk. Everything I did centered around one purpose: building my resume. Every decision was from this perspective. My life was spent working long hours to add new titles to my list of jobs. Each one a building block from the other one: Store Manager then Area Manager, then District Manager, then Merchandise Coordinator. Each step was a building block on the path to success.
The only problem, I didn’t have a firm foundation. When I started working for New York, I realized quickly, I was only a number on the page. If my numbers didn’t perform, I no longer had a job. All of the hard work could vanish in the span of a phone call. Eventually, that is exactly what happened. On a January afternoon, just before 5:00 p.m. I received a call informing me I no longer had a job. Poof, just like that, a career ended.
With Jesus, nothing can shake your foundation. Because Jesus is my foundation, the phone call did not shake me. The truth found in His words helps us weather the storms of life. When we put our hope in Jesus, we’re not putting our hope in the things of this world.
“Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.” (1 Peter 2:10 NIV)
Solid foundation in Jesus, solid life.
Question of the Day:
What is your foundation?
Further Reading: Ezra 4:24-6:22 NIV, 1 Corinthians 3:5-23 NIV, Psalm 29:1-11 NIV, Proverbs 20:26-27 NIV
