Wise or Foolish?....

I learned a song as a Sunday School pre-schooler that is chocked full of Truth. If I were real techno-smart, you would click on a link at this point and hear me sing it for you. It's probably better that I don't have that link! I bet you know the song, though.

The wise man built his house upon the rock; the wise man built his house upon the rock. The wise man built his house upon the rock, and the rains came a tumbling down....And the house on the rock stood firm!

The foolish man built his house upon the sand; the foolish man built his house upon the sand. The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the rains came a tumbling down.....And the house on the sand went splat!

That's the parable Jesus tells at the end of Luke 5. Obviously, the intent of the parable is to show the benefit of making the Lord the foundation of one's life. But to really begin to grasp His meaning, we need to read the context in which the parable is told. After choosing his twelve apostles, He gave a sermon in which He explained the principals of the christian life, called the Beatitudes. You can check out a more extensive listing of the Beatitudes given in Mathew 5. I like to look at these as the Be-Atitudes - Have these attitudes in your personal life and you will be laying a foundation that will stand when the storms of life roll through - and they will.

• Be poor in spirit - live with an attitude of humility treating others as you want to be treated.
• Be hungry and thirsty - for the righteousness of God, longing for and needing Him like you do food and water
• Be compasionate - to the needs of others, putting them before your own
• Be ready to be persecuted - you are in the world but not of the world and the world will not like you when you stand for Jesus

Be those things through the power of the Holy Spirit working in your life, and you will be laying a foundation that will not fail when times get tough. That foundation is Christ the Lord. He should be the basis of everything you are, everything you do, everything you think, everything you say.

Remember Enoch and Noah from a few days ago? Enoch "walked with God" and Noah "found favor with God" - and they lived extraordinary lives as ordinary people because their foundation stood firm.

We have a crack in the ceiling uf our breakfast area. While eating dinner last night, our four year old grandson looked up at the crack and then said to Garry, "Pa, why do you have a crack in the roof?" We all took our turns trying to explain to him in our various ways what had caused the crack. One of us finally said something about the house shifting. Then, he quite seriously looked at us and said, "You shouldn't have a crack; you should get it fixed." There have been times in my life where my foundation was beginning to show signs of neglect. You may have experienced that too. It happens when I neglect those attitudes that should be the essence of who I am. I neglect those attitudes when I neglect spending time with the One who seals my foundation. When you find your "house" shifting, check your foundation and renew your Be-atitudes! You will experience life in a whole different way! Live life as the Wise Man and not the Foolish Man.