What's your emotional reaction to the parable's word picture? Did you think of this parable when the earthquake hit Haiti last month?We have a visceral reaction to ruined homes. Whether as a city boy rummaging through a dilapidated barn on his grandparent's farm or an archeologist just granted oversight of her first dig in the Holy Land, we ask similar questions. What was life like for the people who lived here? Were they similar to us in any way?
Jesus stands at the other end of the time-line. He says people decide from the beginning whether the "house of life" will remain standing or fall into ruin. Like the teacher in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes he says the houses of the wise remain and the houses of the foolish disintegrate.
Lent is about checking how our construction is going. Are we building wisely? Have apathy or unhealthy habits settled in since our last check? Use the comment section to make a community list. What are the subtle weaknesses that work into our lives and cause us to build poorly?
2 comments:
Boredom
Busyness
Over-confidence...the idea that I have it figured out and I can stop building.
Lack of confidence...the idea that I don't want to come across as not knowing so I don't do or say anything.
When I read Matthew 7:24-27 I think of the scripture 1 Corinthians 15:58-- Therefore, my brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
The subtle weaknesses that work in lives and cause us to build poorly is to take our focus off God and to go our own willful way. Azalee Tatum
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