February 9th, 2022
I have jogged on the beach exactly once in my life and I don’t foresee myself ever doing it again. The sun was just beginning to peek over the water. I could hear the soft sound of the waves and feel the breeze. It was absolutely beautiful, but I was miserable roughly one minute into my jog. It. Was. Hard. I’ve had a whole new respect for beach joggers since the experience. Running (or walking) on sand causes us to use all kinds of muscles we don’t normally use just to maintain our balance. Why? Sand shifts under our feet. It’s interesting to think about this in light of the single recorded place that Jesus talked about sand in the gospels. At the close of His famous Sermon on the Mount, He said:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:24-27)
This may seem like common sense to us. We know that houses should have a stable foundation. However, Jesus used this analogy to illuminate just how foolish someone would have to be to hear His instruction and not heed it. Our faith needs a firm foundation to stand, and Jesus clearly tells us here that the only sure foundation is His word. Experiences with God are incredible. History with God is important. We need to remember what God has done, but in trials or temptations, the only thing that we can truly stand on is the Word of God. Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Is it any wonder then that Christ himself is called the cornerstone of our faith, being the Word made flesh (Eph. 2:19-22)?
When we are brought into the family of God, we become not only part of His household, but part of His temple! Individually, we are vessels of God’s presence, but together as the church, we are being built together into a dwelling place for God. We can’t receive the fullness of what God wants for us apart from His body, but it’s our responsibility to make sure that the foundations in our own life are firm. Colossians 1:20-23 says,
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
If is one of the most important words in the entire Bible. I encourage you to read the verse above again. It’s our responsibility to make sure we continue in the faith, not shifting from the hope we originally received! The only fight that we have to fight is the fight of faith. The writer of Hebrews encourages his reader along these lines, several times:
Hebrews 3:6
“but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”
Hebrews 3:14
“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
He says three times to “hold fast” to our confidence and our hope. That word is not passive. It is “to seize on to; to keep secure; or to maintain possession of.” Holding fast is an action. It means that no matter what, you refuse to let go of the hope that you have. That same word is used also in Philippians 2:14-16,
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
This week and always, I want to encourage you to hold fast. Hold fast to the word of life that saved you. Hold fast to the hope and the confidence that you’ve had. Hold fast with everything you have! Refuse to let your faith be built on anything but His Word. If your faith is built on sand, you’ll be moved when the lightest breeze blows. However, when your faith is built on the firm foundation of God’s word, the strongest wind can’t shake you! A storm feels different in a tent than it does in a storm shelter! One particular hymn, written in 1787 but timeless in meaning, captures this beautifully:
How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
“Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed,
for I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.”
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:24-27)
This may seem like common sense to us. We know that houses should have a stable foundation. However, Jesus used this analogy to illuminate just how foolish someone would have to be to hear His instruction and not heed it. Our faith needs a firm foundation to stand, and Jesus clearly tells us here that the only sure foundation is His word. Experiences with God are incredible. History with God is important. We need to remember what God has done, but in trials or temptations, the only thing that we can truly stand on is the Word of God. Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Is it any wonder then that Christ himself is called the cornerstone of our faith, being the Word made flesh (Eph. 2:19-22)?
When we are brought into the family of God, we become not only part of His household, but part of His temple! Individually, we are vessels of God’s presence, but together as the church, we are being built together into a dwelling place for God. We can’t receive the fullness of what God wants for us apart from His body, but it’s our responsibility to make sure that the foundations in our own life are firm. Colossians 1:20-23 says,
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
If is one of the most important words in the entire Bible. I encourage you to read the verse above again. It’s our responsibility to make sure we continue in the faith, not shifting from the hope we originally received! The only fight that we have to fight is the fight of faith. The writer of Hebrews encourages his reader along these lines, several times:
Hebrews 3:6
“but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”
Hebrews 3:14
“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
He says three times to “hold fast” to our confidence and our hope. That word is not passive. It is “to seize on to; to keep secure; or to maintain possession of.” Holding fast is an action. It means that no matter what, you refuse to let go of the hope that you have. That same word is used also in Philippians 2:14-16,
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
This week and always, I want to encourage you to hold fast. Hold fast to the word of life that saved you. Hold fast to the hope and the confidence that you’ve had. Hold fast with everything you have! Refuse to let your faith be built on anything but His Word. If your faith is built on sand, you’ll be moved when the lightest breeze blows. However, when your faith is built on the firm foundation of God’s word, the strongest wind can’t shake you! A storm feels different in a tent than it does in a storm shelter! One particular hymn, written in 1787 but timeless in meaning, captures this beautifully:
How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
“Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed,
for I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.”
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