I pressed my toes into the soft sand. As I listened quietly, the wind carried the voices of laughter and shouts of glee to my ears. Nothing could contain the joy of both children and adults as they splashed in the waves. Beautiful summer days in Wellington never fail to draw people out of the comfort of their homes.
I watched my children run after the waves as it washed on the shore and drew back again. After a while, they spotted a number of huge rocks a few meters away. Whenever the waves hurried towards their little feet, they scrambled onto the rocks. This catch-me-if-you-can game went on for quite some time.
When they came back to sit with us for a quick snack, my children, as they usually do, started narrating all they had done so far. Something they said caught my attention. “When we stand on the sand and the waves reach us, our feet sink a little in the sand. Our toes get covered each time the waves come back. But when we stand on the rock, we don’t sink!”
I couldn’t help but smile at the biblical lesson jumping out of the conversation.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew chapter 7, verses 24-27)
As Christians, we know that Jesus is the Rock we should be standing on.
He should be the solid foundation beneath our feet. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 11).
But playing in the sand is so tempting for so many. We have one foot in the world, and we use the other foot to hop and follow Jesus. Has anyone ever told you that they will get right with God someday but for now they just want to live life to the “fullest”?
We build castles even though we know it will be washed away. Our careers, hopes and dreams become things we are desperate to hold on to. Are these things not good? Sure, they are. Colossians chapter 3, verse 23 mentions that “whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.” It is equally important for us to remember that these things are temporary (2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 18).
Learning to stand firm on the Rock takes practice.
Reading our Bibles and praying help our relationship with Christ grow. Forming these habits can be hard, boring and stressful with the busy, fast paced lives of people nowadays. However, growing this relationship in good times will be an anchor for us in hard times.
Corrie ten Boom, in her book, Each New Day, talked about how often she looked death in the eye as a prisoner in a concentration camp during the holocaust. She wrote, “When you look at death you see everything in such an uncomplicated way. I saw that the devil was strong, much stronger than I, but then I looked at Jesus. He was strong, much stronger than the devil. Together with Him, I was much stronger than the devil.”
The reason Corrie was so confident about her Jesus was because she knew Him. The years and years of drawing closer to Him prior to being a prisoner set her feet on firm foundation. Corrie recognized that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8). Her circumstances in that moment did not dictate who Jesus is. She was planted on the rock.
What about you? Are you planted on the Rock? Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins, and be your Lord and Saviour? If you have not, there is no better moment to do that than now.