“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25
On what are you building your life and your future? Are you firmly established on solid ground? Edward Mote (1834) wrote his song “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” in which he confidently affirmed: “My 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 / All other ground is sinking sand.”
In the context of Jesus’ encouragement for us to build on the rock and not on the sand, he admonishes us to do his will, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). The firm foundation on which we need to build is the will and the word of God; all other ground is sinking sand.
After cautioning us about idols who are the works of men’s hands, who have mouths but cannot speak, who have eyes but cannot see, who have ears but cannot hear, the psalmist gives a threefold admonition: “O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield” (Psa. 115:9-10). We may not fashion idols of wood, stone, or metal and bow down to them; however, we still have idols in our lives. We put our trust in things that are temporary and not eternal. Like the rich fool, we believe we have “many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry” (Lk. 12:19). This is not the solid rock; it is the sinking sand. This is what the man thought within himself, but the Lord said to him, “This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Lk. 12:21).
In the second verse of his hymn, Mote reminds us, “In every high and stormy gale / My anchor holds within the veil.” We know that the sea of life often becomes stormy. We don’t get the job we had hoped to get; we lose the job we have. Someone we thought was a friend turns and forsakes us in our time of need. Our health fails and we feel weak and lost. When these storms of life appear, they do not define us if we are building on the Solid Rock. It is God and his word that affirm who we are. As Paul so confidently affirms, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance” (1 Tim. 4:8-9). The Solid Rock is eternal; the sinking sand is only temporary.
The reason we can weather the storms of life is expressed in the song in verse four: “When He shall come with trumpet sound / O may I then in Him be found / Dressed in His righteousness alone / Faultless to stand before the throne.” We do not stand in our own power. We stand in the power of Jesus and his blood because, “…He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). When we are building our life and future on this Solid Rock, then we are filled with all joy and peace as we trust in him, so that we overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and mind (Phil. 4:7).
L Scott Gage