I love the beach (hence the sandy background on this blog page). Some of my closest encounters with God have taken place there. I love to walk in the sand, right at the edge of the water where it’s wet and soft and cool, where I can collect the most beautiful and interesting shells, and where the trickle of a wave will occasionally roll up and over my toes. It’s a perfect place to stroll.
And the worst possible place to build a house.
I have spent the last couple of years off and on writing in this blog about my spiritual journey, talking about the connections I’m making, how God is speaking to me, and the insights I’m getting from Scripture. But I wonder now if I’ve been building my house in the wrong place.
In Matthew 7:26, Jesus of course talks about this very issue:
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. (NIV)
I seriously wonder how deeply I’m putting into practice the things I’ve been writing about. It’s one thing to intellectualize and analyze Scripture. It’s an entirely different thing to live it. I’m much better at the first one.
I suppose it’s part of the journey to move from understanding God and the Bible towards internalizing and absorbing it. It truly is my prayer that I will continually move towards that depth, but it’s going to take time and work and conscious effort on my part—effort that until now I haven’t been giving very well.
There are all kinds of excuses running through my head right now: work is stressful, I have a lot on my plate, I’m going through a difficult season in my family and marriage and finances. The list could continue for quite a while, in fact. But all of those should be reasons for me to center myself in Scripture. Instead, I escape into entertainment.
Frequently, in this blog and at other times, I’ve said that I want to make more time for God. The truth is if I really have Him as the center of my life, I won’t have to make time for Him: He’ll already be there all the time. I guess it’s time for me to quit spending all my time walking on the beach, get serious about finding the solid ground, and start building my house.
Photo Credits: A house on the beach by fotografar, 4/24/05
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