Everyone who comes to me [Jesus] and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 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. Luke 6:47-48a ESV

By Scott Schuler

Most of us can recall a time that we’ve crafted something with enthusiasm, commitment and hard work, only to witness it crumble under pressure later – our marriage, career, future plans?

When I was in my late teens, I set out to build a small addition on the side of our family home. Although I was young, I was certain that I had the expertise to complete this project. I quickly realized that my focus was on the wrong aspect of the project.

It was late into my double shift at work when my mom called, “Scott, the new building is flooding with rain.” Anxiety filled me as I sped home to find that the storm had engulfed the room that I’d spent hours laboring to build. Four inches of water covered the floor, ruining timber and wall finishes.

And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7:27 ESV

Determined to save my masterpiece I began digging trenches late into the night, alternating between a shovel and my bare hands, desperately trying to drain the water away from the addition. But it was too late. The foundation was unstable. When the roof started to sag, I knew I was in trouble.

My focus was on the look of the finished product rather than the foundation.

How often can we trace our failures back to a poor foundation of beliefs or values? My colossal failure of building the addition without a solid foundation reminds me of how I justified my beliefs prior to turning to Jesus. I believed in God, but couldn’t understand how Jesus fit in. Wasn’t faith in God good enough?

Jesus said … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 ESV

God shifted my focus when I was in my mid-twenties, as I watched my prosperous fitness center career get yanked from under me. My beliefs began to waiver. I finally realized the truth about my faith.

Jesus must be the cornerstone of our faith.

Through this loss in my career, God allowed my faith to shift to a personal relationship with Jesus. The only way to truly know God is to first know Jesus. The Apostle Paul describes it clearly:

You are fellow citizens with the saints [believers] and members of the household of God, built on the foundation [Bible] of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure [Church], being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Ephesians 2:19a-21 ESV

We need a strong spiritual foundation in our lives. If we build our faith on the truth of the Bible, with Jesus as our cornerstone, life’s storms will not shake us.

How would you describe your spiritual foundation? Is Jesus your cornerstone and the rock of your salvation?

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