Daily Jewel

by pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Jan. 17, 2012

“The Solid Rock”
“By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations; by understanding He set the heavens in place…" – Proverbs 3:19 (NIV)

I am not a builder. In fact, when it comes to construction I am downright terrible. If I buy anything that requires assembling – I set aside pretty much an entire day because I know my limitations. We recently bought a slide for our granddaughter. The outside of the box said it takes approximately 10 minutes to put together. Dianne, knowing my “ability” said, “let’s plan on thirty minutes.” Good plan!
Despite my deficiency – this one thing I do know; without a solid foundation a house or building will not stand the test of time.
Jesus spoke about foundations when He taught about two men and the houses they built. One was built with a sandy foundation and one with rock-solid foundation. I think His listeners understood that Jesus was not necessarily talking so much about houses as much as He was life. A life built upon principles and values that have meaning and purpose will stand the test of time! Guidelines and Laws not created by man for man – but those designed by God for those are created in the image of Himself.
As a parent – I cannot begin to ever imagine telling one of my children when they were younger; “Stick your hand on this hot stove and see what happens.” I know exactly what would happen, they would burn themselves, and as a loving parent I would do anything to prevent that from happening. Why, then, would anyone think that God’s Laws are anything less than the Words of a loving Father, preventing His children from doing something that would harm them – maybe leaving permanent damage? A popular but false and dangerous philosophy would have us believe that rules and foundations are nothing more than soft guidelines that if or when broken is no big deal. The following quote pretty much sums this up: "Laugh here, smile no matter what you're going through, give everyone a second chance, and don't ever forget...rules were meant to be broken...life is too short to be anything but happy." (Unknown)
I don’t disagree that people deserve a second chance or that life is too short to not be happy, the problem is, how would breaking the rules make a person happy? How would living wrong make a person right?
The writer of the Hymn, “The Solid Rock” really puts this in its proper perspective. Most of us know the words but here are the words for us to think through today. In fact, quite often we know the words of hymns so well that we rarely pay attention to what we are singing. Read the words slowly and think through what they are saying as if you are reading them for the very first time. You may be surprised by how –through all these ages these words remain fresh and strong! The reminder that by His divine wisdom – He laid down the foundation for us to stand upon when we need it most!

My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name!
When darkness seems to hide His face, I trust on His unchanging grace.
Through every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His Covenant, His blood – support me in the whelming flood
When all around, my soul gives way – He then is all my hope and stay!
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand!

God knew what He was doing as He laid the earth’s foundations in place—not just as a builder but also as a Father. His guidelines still matter. They still stand!
Pastor J. T. Carnell