Friday, February 16, 2007

Falling vs. Building

I remember the first time I ever heard this parable that Jesus taught of the wise man who built his house upon a rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand. In all of my six-year-old wisdom, I came home from church and told my mom that we studied The Three Little Pigs in Sunday School...but the preacher must have gone too long in big church because my teacher had to leave out one of the pigs..

Since we talked about falling yesterday, let's look about what was wrong with the foolish man's house. I can just picture this dingy surfer dude getting the bright idea that He could construct his crib on the sand - loose fine pieces of rock that are unstable, change with the tide, and can be blown away with a light breeze. Bright idea, dude.

But do we do the same thing if we fall in love? Is that relationship built on things that are unstable, like how AMAZING their blue eyes (or tinted contacts) are? Or things that can change, like emotion? (You know you've heard the excuse, "The magic's just not there anymore.") If a relationship is not build on a firm foundation, commitment can be shifted as easily as sand.

Enter Prince Charming. He's got it all together - he's prepared and has a plan AND a purpose. It is not an uption for his house (aka, the relationship in our case) to fall. He's a builder.

Yesterday, we looked at 10 things we associate with falling. Let's take a minute and think about building.

1) To join parts to create something better (i.e. turning buttons and material into a new jacket!)
2) To establish or strengthen (like building a business)
3) To base or found (such as building a relationship on trust)
4) To increase in intensity (You know how Kelly Clarkson songs always builds on the 3rd verse)
5) To praise or compliment (Like when your best friend builds you up to give you the courage to go talk to that really cute guy in your English class.)

So the wise man is buiding something that is stronger and better than before. In a storm with heavy floods and harsh winds, his house remains secure.

Sounds like Prince Charming has the potential to be Mr. Right, while our gnarly surfer dude has missed his chance of even being Mr. Right NOW.

But what exactly is a rock that a relationship should be built on? Stay tuned...
Isaiah 26:4
"Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord,
we have an everlasting Rock."

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Esther 4:14b

"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"