I asked my bible study kids to contemplate a passage of scripture last night. It was Luke 6:46-49. It talks about two different kinds of people, wise and foolish. The wise man builds his house on a solid foundation, on the Rock (Jesus Christ), the foolish man builds his house on the ground without a foundation, Then the passage tells us that when the storm came the wind and rain and floods did not move the house built on a solid foundation, it withstood the storm, When the storm came to the house without a foundation it collapsed and it's destruction was complete.
I asked the youth which of these two houses they would want to be, and then we talked about how it was completely their choice. It is summer time now, I probably wont see all of them on a weekly basis, I'll try to see them often but programs just don't run the same in the summer. So i know that now is the time that all the teaching I have done, all the conversations we have had, all the things we have learned about will all be tested. This is where the rubber meets the road some might say.
We all have things in our lives that try to pull us away from building our house on a solid foundation, the sin things in our life that appeal to our senses that make us think that building on the rock isn't worth it. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier not to put in the work, not to dig down deep and find that rock to build our house on, but we have to ask ourselves if a house with no foundation is the house we want to build? Will it be worth it when we are standing looking at the rubble that we put so much effort into, the house that we built all in vain because it was on a weak foundation?
I want to know, be certain, that the house I am building is on a solid foundation, that it is built upon Christ the Solid Rock, that no storm of life could shake it. I want to have faith to walk through the the storms of life and come up untouched on the other side because of my Rock.
My prayer is that this summer those youth would be thinking about the foundation that they want to build their house on. I pray that they will see the temptations of this world for what they truly are, traps to make us build our house on sinking sand, things that promise us immediate pleasure but offer no eternal reward. I want the house I build to be built upon the rock, likewise I hope to watch as many young people choose to build their house on a solid foundation through their choices this summer.
Thursday 23 June 2011
Wednesday 8 June 2011
The Dash
I received some bad news this week, A young man I went to school with passed away on Sunday. I'll be honest, I haven't seen him for years, probably about 6, but in school we were good friends and the news that he was now gone was rattling. I'll be attending his funeral this Friday, hopefully along with many of the others students from that class, I am confident it won't be a happy reunion, but hopefully we can celebrate who he was together. He was a happy, carefree, fun loving kind of guy.
News of death usually makes you think, it makes reality sink a bit further in that we are not untouchable, we are not immortal, especially when it is someone that is the same age as yourself. This time it reminded me of something I heard one time, when you look at a tombstone there's usually two dates: date of birth and date of death. In between those two dates is usually a little dash, a small mark with so much significance. The dash represents all the things about our life, it's where we make choices, memories, decisions. Who will we be? what will we aspire to? how will we impact the world? what or who will we believe in?
It's the dash that matters, a little tiny mark that represents all of the life someone lived. It makes you think, what will I do in my dash, who will I be? I think it's easy to let life pass you by sometimes, to be a bystander of your own existence. I don't want that, I want my dash to matter, I want the kids I work with the know that I think it matters, I don't care if i get famous or if people have many incredible things to say about me once my dash is up and that final date known, but as I think about it I do care about that dash. I care that in my dash I live for Jesus not myself (this isn't always easy - in fact it almost never is), I care that in my dash I try to put others first, I care that in my dash I stay focused on what matters, I believe Jesus came, and died, so that my dash could be life and life to the full. I also believe that Jesus came, and died, so that after my dash I could look forward to an eternity with Him, an eternity in Glory, an eternity that I can have based on the decision I made to follow him in my dash.
It's gloriously freeing to know that when my dash ends, I will meet face to face with my wonderful Saviour, I will know firsthand the reality of his grace and compassion for me that covers over all the mistakes made in my dash. The best news is that that same offer is for everyone, Jesus offers it freely, all we have to do is believe in him and accept his free gift of salvation, after that the final date after the dash is far less frightening.
News of death usually makes you think, it makes reality sink a bit further in that we are not untouchable, we are not immortal, especially when it is someone that is the same age as yourself. This time it reminded me of something I heard one time, when you look at a tombstone there's usually two dates: date of birth and date of death. In between those two dates is usually a little dash, a small mark with so much significance. The dash represents all the things about our life, it's where we make choices, memories, decisions. Who will we be? what will we aspire to? how will we impact the world? what or who will we believe in?
It's the dash that matters, a little tiny mark that represents all of the life someone lived. It makes you think, what will I do in my dash, who will I be? I think it's easy to let life pass you by sometimes, to be a bystander of your own existence. I don't want that, I want my dash to matter, I want the kids I work with the know that I think it matters, I don't care if i get famous or if people have many incredible things to say about me once my dash is up and that final date known, but as I think about it I do care about that dash. I care that in my dash I live for Jesus not myself (this isn't always easy - in fact it almost never is), I care that in my dash I try to put others first, I care that in my dash I stay focused on what matters, I believe Jesus came, and died, so that my dash could be life and life to the full. I also believe that Jesus came, and died, so that after my dash I could look forward to an eternity with Him, an eternity in Glory, an eternity that I can have based on the decision I made to follow him in my dash.
It's gloriously freeing to know that when my dash ends, I will meet face to face with my wonderful Saviour, I will know firsthand the reality of his grace and compassion for me that covers over all the mistakes made in my dash. The best news is that that same offer is for everyone, Jesus offers it freely, all we have to do is believe in him and accept his free gift of salvation, after that the final date after the dash is far less frightening.
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