I went out on a river recently and couldn’t help but notice how much wash out was happening along the banks. As the water flowed, it would wash out mud and dirt that was supporting the soil that made the bank and before long a section of seemingly solid ground would fall in to the river and the process would continue. In the boat with me was an older gentleman who had fished on that river for decades; since he was a little boy. He talked about how much it had changed over his lifetime and the biggest change was how much it had widened. The slow but continual process of erosion had eaten away the shore lines. At one point we saw a house that was built about 30 feet from the river bank and I wondered how much longer that house would still have dirt under it to keep it standing. Probably not as long as the homeowners were counting on.
We read the words of Jesus and sing the song that says “The foolish man built his house upon the sand” and if you’re like me, there’s a voice in the back of your mind saying ‘Well that’s silly. Why would anyone build their house on a pile of sand where the wind and water are constantly moving it around? I would never do that.” And I make the spiritual application that having faith in Jesus is the solid ground, whereas money, relationships, my own strength, etc are shifting sands. Of course, I’ll build my house on solid ground.
However, it’s very tempting to build on solid ground, yet still build pretty close to attractive but dangerous things of this world. “I put my faith in Jesus… but I’d sure like to have an extra digit on my bank balance.” “I live for Jesus… but these are the current fashion trends so it ok to show a little more.” “Jesus is my Lord… but I want to go see the latest movie even though it’s pretty vulgar.”
We may not be marching right on to the sandy beach and defiantly raising the walls for our house, but it seems like sometimes we push the limit as much as we can and move our house as close to worldliness as we can so that we can have the benefits of God’s solid ground and still have a pretty view of the shifting pleasures of the world. Kind of like building your house beside a river that is slowly and continually eroding away it’s banks. Sooner or later, your house will fall into the river and be washed away and you’ll be left standing there saying “But I built on solid ground.”
Gen 13:10-12 – And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan… was well watered like the garden of the LORD… So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east… and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Rev 3:16 – Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth
