Surface Building

Luke 6:46-49 NIV

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

“When what you believe infiltrates your behavior, the process gives you foundation... the underground work must be done before above ground exposure.” Bishop T.D. Jakes

I use to think that Jesus' instructions for life-building in this parable was calling me to focus on the “soil”. As mentioned, one man built on the ground, and the other on a rock. Today however, I'm led to take a deeper look.

Let's bring our attention to this portion of the text; “a man building a house, who dug down deep...”. In this illustration Jesus parallels one who puts all that He says into practice, to a man that digs down deep until he hits a SOLID ROCK. On one hand we have a man who begins to build “from the surface”, and on the other... we find a man who's building process began with the adversity of digging first.

Jesus is not telling us “where” to build, but more-less “how” to build. Here's the question; How are you building your life... are you building “on the surface” or “upon the ROCK”?

Surface building is living without regard for God's instructions. It is making plans that have no Godly origin. It's living and never seeing the “you” God sees. It is indeed the lives that people construct for themselves that are destined for destruction. On the contrary, when we build upon the rock we live our lives in such a way that allows the Word of God to challenge us in our actions and behavior.