The parable found in Matthew 7:24-27 about the two foundations is the conclusion to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had been speaking for hours. Jesus tells them, “It is not enough that you have heard what I said, you must act on what I have said.”

Jesus then tells the story of the two builders. One builder goes out and builds a house on the rocks. The winds and the rains came and the house was built well and it stood in spite of the storm.

That always reminds me of the “House on the Rock” near Dodgeville. It is built on, around and in the rocks and all the storms that have hit it over the years have not moved that well-built house.

Those who hear the words of Jesus and obey them are like the builder who has a solid foundation.

The person who builds a house on sand finds the digging very easy and the house is built much quicker. When the storms came that house fell because the foundation was weak.

That reminds me of the homes built on the coast in California. They have a beautiful view but when the storms come, the million-dollar houses slide down the hill.

Jesus points out that all who follow him are builders. All of us who are builders are divided into two classes. We are wise builders or we are foolish builders but we are all builders.

We are building by what we do and by what we think. We are building with every word that we speak, every dream we dream and every ambition and desire we have. Everything we do and say goes into building the kind of Christian we are. What we do and say determines what kind of faith we have.

Some of us are putting some poor stuff into our buildings with the words we use, the things we do, the way we treat others with whom we disagree, and the way we respond to criticism. We have a poor foundation by our unwillingness to forgive others or to give to God’s work with our time, our abilities and our money.

To build a strong foundation we need to read God’s word, to pray, to obey God, to love others and to be involved in God’s world.

Our spiritual lives are not to be built for fair weather only. We need to build with a view to the future for the times when life will be tough.

There will be times when our problems seem to overwhelm us. There may be family problems, financial problems, or feelings of fear, loneliness and discouragement or the novel coronovirus. 

Trust in that foundation. Trust in Jesus. Jesus said that if you build your life on His teachings it’s like building your life on a rock-solid foundation. 

In the past year I have fought two different kinds of cancer but I don’t blame God or I don’t say “Why me?” I believe in the power of prayer but God does not exempt Christians from the stress and strain of life. That is why it is important for us to build a strong foundation on the rock of ages. How firm is your foundation?

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. David Busker is the retired pastor of Monroe United Methodist Church.