Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.?
I love the hymn How Firm a Foundation. Many times I’ve sat on the pew, while trying to sing myself, and listened to congregations singing the hymn with such vigor and adoration to the Lord. Our study verse is alluded to in the hymn and every time I read it I find myself humming the good old hymn the believers in Christ love so very much.
A foundation is very important. So often when we drive down the highway we see beautiful homes on each side of the road. The roof color, siding colors and windows usually attract our attention quickly. But if the home does not have a good foundation, all those things we see, no matter how beautiful, will soon fall. When my family made the move from Georgia to North Carolina in 2018, I was blessed to find a structural engineer who helped me inspect the foundation of the home we purchased. Why? Because we knew that if the house had a good foundation, everything above that (roof, siding, windows, flooring cover) could be repaired more easily.
How many of us long and desire to have a good foundation for our lives? Are we more concerned about our outward appearance (shirts, pants, hair, and etc) or are we more concerned about the foundation? A good foundation will bless a person to be standing, even in the midst of the strong storms so many children of God face in this temporal world. But where can we find a strong foundation? Where should we build to have a strong foundation? Please consider:
(1) The Lord Jesus Christ! Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Psalm 18:2, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust;…” The Lord is constant and never changes. The Lord is dependable and will always be there when you need Him. When building your life, there is no more sure foundation than the Lord Himself.
(2) The Word of the Lord! If we are building our lives on the Lord, we are building our lives on His Word. Matthew 7:24, ‘Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:…” So many times we converse with individuals who are laboring to build their lives on experience, either theirs or their parents or friend’s experience. I will agree that experience is a good teacher, but according to 2 Peter 1:19 the Word of God is “more sure.” Experiences can be forgotten and difficult to remember. Our minds, as sinful men, are often very weak. But the Word of God never changes. It tells it the same way every time.
(3) The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ! If we are building our lives on the Lord and His Word, we should be building it in the Church. Isaiah 28:16, “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation:…” If our desire is to build our temporal lives on the Lord and His Word, the Church is a beautiful place to do so. The Father didn’t lay this stone at the ball game fields, at the beach, in the woods hunting or on the lake fishing. And please do not misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong with enjoying ball games, the beach, hunting or fishing. But those things should never come before our service to God in the Church. A faithful service to the Lord in the Church will bless us to have a strong foundation in our lives.
In closing, I would confess to you that my heart has often been discouraged and saddened by watching children of God, who could have enjoyed the sweet peace and stability found in walking close to the Lord, have their temporal lives fall and crumble to pieces in this present world. And I do realize that there are no guarantees in this world, but building your life on a good foundation sure does improve the chances of joy and happiness. I often pray that God will give me more temporal grace to tell the children of God about a life of time salvation that may be enjoyed by obeying God and walking in obedience to Him.