There is a parable many of us are familiar with in Luke 6, about two men who build houses for themselves. One builds on the rock (Christ) and one builds on the sand. About the one who build his life on the ‘rock’ (Christ), Luke 6:48 says, “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.”
We may know the story, but how many of us have though about this: we don’t know how much time passes in verse 48 between “on the rock” and the word “and.” This man could have built that house and years passed before this massive storm came that destroyed the other man’s home. Imagine that for a minute: What if he goes to all the trouble building this house? He selects the right piece of property, with solid bedrock. He digs deep. He does the hard work of laying the foundation. He builds his house. His neighbor finished a long time ago and is just lounging in the sun, playing in the sand with a nice home. And here he is, slaving away, building this home. Then it’s done. Year after year, it’s a mild rainy season. The sun shines. He begins to doubt himself. What was he thinking? Why’d he go to all this trouble? His neighbor’s home is still standing, and his back isn’t sore. The man who built on the rock spent a lot more money on the foundation, and his neighbor had all that money to spend on himself. They’ve gotten a bigger TV. There’s no rain. There’s no wind. There’s no storm. Sometimes obedience is like that. You do all this work. You invest all this time and money, and meanwhile, your neighbor seems to be living it up and doing whatever they want. You’re denying yourself, and they’re indulging themselves, and it seems as though, in the end, it doesn’t matter. Sometimes obedience means you sit there for days on end while the sun seems to shine on everyone and you wonder why you went to all the trouble. But the storms will come, and when they do, the rock of Jesus will not let you down.
