A Heap of Ruins

The house looked forgotten after 30 years sitting empty; a heap of ruins against the  afternoon sky.    Screens loosed from the front porch windows waved to us in the breeze, and  man-sized holes caved in parts of  the roof. Junk rested tiredly against the sides of the house. The beehive that once buzzed with honey-making activity, was long since abandoned and the  rusty farm implements, left behind  decades before, were swallowed by the ever-growing woods that defied their natural borders.

During childhood summers, it was a getaway that offered fields for exploration—one an Indian burial ground that still gave up arrowheads to curious children. Country roads offered a safe place for young teens to learn to drive–accompanied by a parent!  Swimming was a daily pastime and often, at night, we fell asleep to the sounds of a summer storm rolling in.   But today, there are no voices of children running around, no  clothesline strung with  bathing suits and towels,  no garden of vegetables, or  bees guarding their hive; today there is only ruin.

Watching the effects of time on a place that was once new and full of life is a sad reminder that much of what we hold dear in this life is temporary. In Luke 6:49, there is another type of ruin that can be compared to that of a house, this one built on a faulty foundation: “But those who listen and don’t obey are like a man who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it crumbles into a heap of ruins.”

While much of what we see around us is temporary, we are not.   Our lives here will end one day, but our spirit (inner man) will live forever. While we live this temporal life, we determine for ourselves whether we will believe and obey our Creator, or choose our own path. And our foundation is not merely in what we know about Him, but  in our obedience to His Words. This determines whether we stand or fall in the storms of life that will come to each of us. Belief in, and obedience to, God’s Word is the preparation we need to stand firm.

Where do you see yourself? Are you putting off being obedient to God’s Word? What changes can you make, with God’s help, to assure that you will stand against the storms of life?

 References from The Living Bible