“Yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Matthew 7:25 (NIV)
A young boy sat in church with his family. As often happens to young boys, his eyes began to wander during the sermon. They landed on a small crack in the joint between the ceiling and the wall at the front of the sanctuary. Moisture had gotten into the crack, causing the paint to peel. Week after week, the boy looked forward to monitoring the progress of the crack as it grew larger.
Then one Sunday the crack was gone. All was well. The church had called in a contractor, and the front was beautifully restored and repainted. Nonetheless, it wasn’t long until the boy noticed a new crack opening exactly where the old one had been.
As it turns out, the church, along with several houses around it, suffered from faulty foundations. When the ground beneath a home starts to collapse, it pulls the foundation of the structure with it, and when part of a building sinks, cracks will inevitably begin to appear on the walls.
Structural engineers were brought in to help the church, and various tests were done. It wasn’t long until they realized the church had been built on land that used to be a landfill. The only solution was to raise the building and then to establish a new foundation under it.
Many people have a faith, but for some that faith does not rest on a firm foundation. They believe, but they are not always sure what they believe or why they believe it.
It is not difficult to work out the symptoms of this particular condition. Where there are weak foundations, there will often be instability and there will be little evidence of the joy and freedom that normally characterize the Christian life.
As you think about your faith, ask yourself, “What kind of a foundation does my faith have?”
