“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
— Luke 24:32
The parable of the two houses in Matthew 7 is one of those stories we all learned as children in Sunday school. I still remember singing, “The rains came down and the floods came up,” not realizing then how deeply that simple truth would speak to life.
Jesus told that parable not only to His disciples but to all of us. Before sharing it, He said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Then He continued, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
There’s a region in the Pacific Ocean known as the Ring of Fire. It stretches along the western coasts of North and South America, curves around through the Philippines and Japan, and borders Australia. This area experiences about ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes and most of the strongest ones. People who live there understand the importance of a firm foundation. Their buildings are designed to endure great shaking because they know that when the ground moves, what lies beneath makes all the difference.
Life often feels like living in our own Ring of Fire. The earth seems to tremble beneath us when relationships break, when we lose a loved one, when a job disappears, or when change arrives uninvited. We feel unsteady, unsure whether we can stand. Many of us have walked through such seasons or may be walking through one even now.
It is in those moments that the words of Jesus echo in our hearts. “Everyone who hears my words and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
There are no shortcuts in life. Perhaps the man who built on sand wanted an easier way, one that cost less time or money. It stood for a while, and maybe that seemed enough. But when the storms came, the weakness was exposed. Shortcuts always look appealing in calm weather, but they fail when the rains come.
I once read that the founder of Wendy’s, Dave Thomas, made his hamburgers square because his mother told him, “Never cut corners.” That simple lesson shaped his life. It’s a good lesson for faith too. There are no shortcuts in following Christ. A foundation of faith takes time, patience, and trust.
The Word of God is our foundation. The Bible is not just a book—it is the breath of God, alive and life-giving. The same breath that gave Adam life breathes through Scripture. That’s why it strengthens us when everything else feels uncertain. John Wesley once said, “I am a man of one book.” He knew that the Word of God was enough, sufficient for every truth and every storm.
Someone once said, “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” When we feel like our lives are falling apart, that’s when we need to go to Scripture. There, God reminds us who we are and whose we are.
Our faith also rests on what John Wesley called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral—Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Scripture is the foundation, but tradition connects us to those who came before us, the men and women of faith who built their lives on Christ, even at great cost. They remind us what steadfast faith looks like.
When we gather as a church each Sunday, we stand on that same ground. Worship strengthens us. Fellowship binds us. When we pray, take communion, and remember our baptism, we are renewing that foundation together.
Faith also uses reason. God never called us to follow blindly. He gave us minds to think, to understand, and to share our faith wisely. Reason helps us see the truth of Scripture more clearly and express it to others with grace.
And then there is experience—the living witness of God’s grace in our lives. We experience the power of prayer when we see God answer. We feel His presence when peace comes in the middle of pain. Faith becomes real not just in what we believe, but in what we live.
Paul wrote in First Corinthians, “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
That is our foundation—Christ Himself. When we build on Him, the storms cannot destroy us. The doubts and fears that come will not sweep us away, because our roots go deep into the Rock of Ages.
Paul also reminds us that the Israelites in the wilderness drank from the spiritual rock that followed them—and that rock was Christ. From the very beginning, He has been the Rock of our salvation. The psalmist says, “The Lord is the Rock of our salvation.” In Christ alone, we find a foundation that does not move.
Peter calls us living stones, built into a spiritual house with Jesus as the Cornerstone. When we stand together as His people, our faith is strong. No storm, no earthquake, no shaking can destroy what is built on Him.
A Christian writer once said, “There are many angles from which a person can fall, but only one angle at which they can stand upright.” That one angle is Christ.
As we go out into the world today, let us remember to stand firm on that foundation. Storms will come. Winds will blow. But those who trust in the Rock will never be dismayed.
“I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”
— Isaiah 28:16
May the Lord bless us and strengthen us, that we may stand firm through every test and trial, anchored always to the solid rock—Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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