Matthew 7:23-25 (New King James Version)
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
As I get older and study history; I notice that a lot of philosophies and ideas come and go. But one remains the same and still stands. Take for example the hottest book out right now The Secret; in a few years this book will fade into history like all the other ideas of men. But I can certainly understand the reasons for all these philosophies. We instinctively understand that the world is not as it should be, something has gone wrong. Why do children die? Why do people murder each other? Why is it easier for me to lie than tell the truth? The questions could go on and on. But the question remains, why? What has gone wrong with the world? We know that things are not as the should be or could be. We have a sense of right and wrong and we want things to be right, but they're not. We are desperately looking for answers and constantly trying out new theories. We want to know what we can do to fix it. Yet, after thousands of years we (collectively speaking, people in general) are no closer to the answers then when we first began, which ought to tell us that the answer lies outside of ourselves. We can not get there from here. And where is "there", from where does this notion of the good come from and why don't we experience it? Some would say "don't worry, be happy" or "love is the answer" or any other empty platitude. But those notions will not help when someone walks into the mall where you are sipping your latte and starts gunning people down. How do you make sense of that? How do you make sense when your son is born with a birth defect that takes his life before he can ever say " I love you" . I don't know about you, but I need real answers to these questions. I need to base my life on something that can carry me through tragedies, loss, suffering, old age and death. Passing fads, and empty platitudes are like chasing bubbles, touch them and they are gone. I need something I can stand on, build my life on and die on.Let's consider the Pilgrims, since it is Thanksgiving. On what did they build there lives? What was it that was so sure and so strong that in spite of all they faced, they carried on. When faced with months at sea, cold, hunger, lack of comfort and death, even the death of their own children what carried them through? They could've gone back to their homes, in fact they could've never left. What was it that motivated them, what was it that they were so sure of that they gave their fortunes and lives for. Do you have that kind of passion and confidence in life? Some might say they were just stupid. Were they? their children were more educated and more read than any college graduate today. What was it that they built their lives on and on what did they build our government? A little study of history will show that these people knew in whom they believed and knew that scripture was given by Him to them and us. History is filled with men and women like this; they are Christian Martyrs. These are people who gave their lives for the cause of Christ, not taking the lives of others for their cause. These are the people who founded the greatest nation the world has ever known. These are people who started hospitals, founded universities, and have done more to relieve human suffering than any other group of people the world has ever know. You might say they knew why there is suffering and sorrow in the world and they knew what to do about it. And they most certainly knew were to find answers to life's toughest questions. Consider Horatio G. Spafford who lost his four daughters at sea and only his wife survived. On his way to join his wife, he stopped at the place where they died and pen the words to the classic Hymn, It Is Well With My Soul.
Faced with that kind of loss, could you say "it is well with my soul"
That is what I want to build my life on, the word of God as contained in scripture. History ought to tell us that those who stand on scripture alone, stand on solid ground. And those who stand on the philosophies of men, stand on shifting sand. The Bible has withstood thousands of years of criticism. Countless philosophies have come and gone but God's word remains. We as a people need to see in scripture what these great people saw in scripture, a complete and sufficient worldveiw, not just some place to get some personal values. The word of God is so much more than that. So the question is; Will you be the wise person who builds on the Rock or the foolish one who builds on sand?
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