Hello everybody and welcome in to episode 185 of the Bible 2021 podcast. We are reading Luke 6 today and our focus is on What Should Be the Foundation of Your Life? We are a daily 10 minute podcast, where we will dig in to the truth of the Word of God by reading one Bible chapter a day and discussing it. Welcome to new listeners in Islamabad, Pakistan, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Mpumalanga, South Africa, Delhi, India, Brunswick, Canada, Sioux Falls, Idaho, Detroit, Michigan and Jefferson City, Missouri. Thanks for listening! Our goal is to encourage DAILY Bible reading, so you can jump in at any time and join with us. We want to invite as many people as possible to join us in daily Bible reading, so help spread the word and share the podcast! Don’t forget about our web-page, Bible2021.com – contact page, show notes, transcript and more– Click here for our Bible 2021 reading plan\
Foundations are very, very important to any building. Since marriage, my family and I have only lived in one house that was built new. The contractor and builder was basically my father in law, and we lived in that house for over ten years – longer than any other house we’ve ever lived in. I remember how LONG it took to build the house – especially in the early days. The foundation work took a ton of time, and things seemed to flow much more quickly once the walls were up. Nothing is more important to a home or a building than the foundation, and nothing is more difficult to fix than a faulty foundation. In our chapter today, Jesus is going to metaphorically envision each of us to be like a house, and He is going to command us to build our house on HIS teachings. Note the audacity in this command – or, at least it would be audacious if Jesus Himself wasn’t God in the flesh, the creator and redeemer and savior of mankind. Jesus is telling us here that our lives will stand firm and be eternally successful if we build them on the foundation of His teaching by listening to His Word and obeying His Word. Conversely, He is going to tell us that our lives will be a spectacular failure if we do not. Consider the ramifications of that statement: a genuinely saved follower of Jesus who spends the entirety of his life working a difficult and low paying job in Kibera (a slum of Nairobi, Kenya – the largest slum in Africa), but who faithfully follows Jesus will have lived a more successful life than Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, or any of dozens of other famous and impacting humans who do not faithfully follow Jesus. That blows the mind, but given the eternal rewards of Heaven compared to a comparatively scant amount of time on earth in seeming luxury, we can see that the wise decision is to build one’s life on the teachings of Jesus. Let’s read our passage, and then let Spurgeon exhort us further in this truth.
Here is Spurgeon:
Our earnest attention will now be given to those who are hearers of the word, and are somewhat affected by it. All hearers are builders of houses for their souls: they are each one doing something to set up a spiritual habitation. Some of these go a considerable distance in this house-building, and even crown the structure by publicly confessing Christ. They say unto him, “Lord, Lord”: they meet with his followers, and join with them in reverence to the Master’s name; but they do not obey the Lord; they hear him, but they fail to do the things which he says. Hence they are mistaken builders, who fail in the foundation, and make nothing sure except that their house will come down about their ears. Others there are, and we trust they will be found to be many among us, who are building rightly, building for eternity; constructing a dwelling-place with basis of rock, and walls of well-built stone, of which the Lord Christ is both foundation and corner-stone…. I would have you be self-contained, growing each man into Christ for himself, rooted and grounded in love and faith and every holy grace. Then when the worst storm that ever blew on mortal man shall come, it will be said of your faith, “It could not shake it.” I beseech you who are now seeking Christ to take care that you build well, that you may stand long in our Zion, steadfast and unmovable. God grant it for Christ’s sake. Amen.
C. H. Spurgeon, “On Laying Foundations,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 29 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1883), 60.
Bible Memory verses for the month of July: 47 “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built.” Luke 6:47-48
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