Building On The Foundation Already Laid Series

A wise person according to Jesus Christ is someone who listens to Him and puts into practice what he or she hears. Jesus teaches and illustrates this truth by applying it to the building of a house. Jesus Christ is here not talking about the building of houses with cement, stones and wood but about the building of our lives. The Scriptures actually in various places compares the building of our lives to the construction of a building. It is important to note that the first and most important feature of any solid and permanent building is the foundation. The foundation sets a limit to the size and height of the building to be erected on it. There is a fixed relationship between the foundation and the building. A weak foundation can only support a small building whereas a strong foundation can support a large building. Around the country some buildings collapse before completion for the simple reason that the foundation was not strong enough to support the house that was being built. We often behave in a similar way when it comes to the building of our lives. We fail to lay the proper foundation by not following God’s plan for building our lives. A properly built life is only possible by building on the foundation already laid, the foundation of Christ. As youth of the Presbyterian Church, we are celebrating our heritage founded on the foundation of Christ to remind us that the only foundation of our Christian lives is Jesus Christ.

The only way to properly build the Christian life is adhering to the plan of the one who created us. God has a plan for our lives and clearly reveals it in His Word. We can only have access to His plan through a relationship with Christ. Without a relationship with Christ, we remain spiritually dead and separated from God. How then can we hear Him? And if we cannot hear Him, how can we obey His words? This is the main reason why many people today build their lives according to the plans of the world or their own plans and not according to God’s plan. When it comes to building houses to live in, they would spend money and time, and pay architects to design and draw up plans to ensure that their houses are properly constructed. When it comes to building their lives, they do not take so much care. They take it for granted and believe that they can build their lives without God’s plan.

Only the life built according to God’s plan on the foundation of Christ can stand the tests and trials of life. This detailed plan can be found in the Bible, the Word of God. Many people today, however do not believe that it is God’s plan for their lives because they do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God. They would frequently claim to know God but reject the Bible’s claim to complete authority by citing the fact that it was written by men. Although this is true, the Bible did not originate with men but with God. God controlled, directed and communicated with the spirits and minds of the men who wrote the Bible. This principle has been proved and is evident in the scientific world today. Man has proved that he is capable of building and launching satellites into space and communicating with them millions of miles away, directing their course and giving them instructions that they obey. If man can achieve such results, how can we deny the possibility that God can create human beings with mental and spiritual faculties that He can communicate with and control? It is only the Word of God that can reveal God’s plan for our lives because He is the One who created us and it is only by building our lives according to God’s plan that we can fulfil His divine will for our lives. God demands our total commitment and our relationship with Christ should be one of total obedience as He is totally obedient to His Father. He does not want part of our lives but our whole life. This commitment to obedience from the heart is the true and unmistakable evidence of the reality of Christ’s lordship in our lives. It is not enough for us to call Him Lord. We also need to do what His Word commands us. We cannot do anything better than the One who created us and we cannot build our lives according to God’s plan unless we listen to Him and obey Him. We can only do this when we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and Lord. If indeed He were your Saviour and Lord, you would enjoy spending time with Him, communicating with Him through prayer and listening to Him through His Word and the Holy Spirit.