"Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded ('well built') on the rock." (Luke 6:47, 48)
This morning as I was reading my Gospel, the thought occurred to me that perhaps sometimes we need to, "d[i]g deep," in order to lay our foundation on that Solid Rock.
This is not some "works gospel." But it is an effort of, "with all your strength." Hebrews tells us that we need to, "....labor therefore to enter into that rest." What our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us/does for us does not go without opposition. We may, "wrestle not against flesh and blood," but we do wrestle. The evil one is referred to in Revelation, "And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in the Greek he has the name, Apollyon." He is a most formidable enemy, "....the angel of the bottomless pit...." If you and I are going to walk victoriously in Father, Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, there is some serious digging we need to do.
I'm afraid for many there is too much debris between the surface and that, "....foundation on the rock." There is the debris of, "O, I just can't find the time," or, "There is just so much which doesn't seem relevant to my life today," or,........ Whatever debris we may find between the "surface" and that, "Foundation," of which, I remind us, our Lord Jesus said is, "deep," then perhaps we need to ask our Lord today, "How much digging do I need to do?"
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me today to dig away any debris which is keeping me from the, "deep...foundation...founded on the Rock." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
