Leaning. When the foundation makes all the difference.

It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time. ~David Allan Coe

The Italians were known (and are known) for their magnificent architecture. In the first century the Romans brought us the unmistakable Colosseum in Rome, the Pantheon and countless other treasures. They were constructed so well that many are still standing in some form or another for us to marvel at and enjoy.

It is amazing to think how they were able to build such splendid structures with the primitive equipment that they had at the time (compared to today’s standards). Fast forward to the eleventh century and the Torre Pendente di Pisa, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa, as we know it today. This wonder, a 14,500 ton leaning tower in the Tuscany region, was originally designed to be a bell tower and the first two floors stood upright for five years! Once they had completed the third floor in, 1178, it started to lean. The problem seemed to be the fact that the tower was built on dense clay (some say sand and seashells) which was just not strong enough to hold it up straight.

Over the next several hundred years, it became obvious that it wasn’t just leaning, the tower was falling at a rate of one to two millimeters per year and today is more than five meters off perpendicular. They tried to compensate by making the story’s shorter on the uphill side but that didn’t work either, it leaned all the more.

When it began to sink and lean, they halted the construction project for 100 years hoping that the soil would settle and give the strength to hold the enormous weight of the tower. It was added on to several times over the next several hundred years, they would begin then stop, build a little more, then stop either due to war or the leaning of the tower itself. Finally, in 1964, a leaden counterweight was added to save the tower and in 1990 it was closed again for its final upgrade to safety. It reopened to the public in 2001 as a national treasure and international wonder. (My brother-in-law, Duffe Elkins, was just in Italy and took this great picture of the Leaning Tower!)

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 NLT.

Leaning. When the foundation makes all the difference.

We know we can’t build a new home on a foundation of sand. It will sink! But what about our day-to-day lives?

“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.” Proverbs 24:3.

The Sermon on the Mount begins in Matthew 5 and the final parable is given in the seventh chapter with the story about two men and two houses. Jesus told the crowd that had gathered that their words meant little but their actions would tell all. He even went so far as to say that some would stand before Him in the Judgment and begin to list all the things that they did “in His name” but He would say that He never knew them.

There was no relationship.

I am not normally a fan of The Message translation of the Bible, I look at it more as a lighthearted story with the language used. But today it is appropriate to read this rendition, it will almost make you chuckle!  

“Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’” Matthew 7:24-27 The Message.

Did you see that line? “All you did was USE ME to make yourselves important.” Their foundation would fold and crumble in the end because there was no Rock, nothing to hold on to, no relationship to build upon!

It is about DOING the will of the Father, following His instruction and making everything we do point to Him, not to ourselves. When our foundation is Jesus, when our entire world revolves around pleasing Him, then everything else lines up and is in order, we have built on the Rock, the Solid Rock, Christ Jesus being the Chief Cornerstone.

 “Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’” Isaiah 28:16 ESV.

You will have nothing to hold on to when the storms come and your life will be shattered. But if He is first, if you KNOW Him, then no matter what comes your way, whether it is persecution, famine, cancer, financial disaster, death of a loved one, it doesn’t matter the WHAT as long as you know in WHOM you have believed and in WHOM you have put your trust.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11.

And one more plug for The Message storybook today. Read the story of two men and two houses one more time: “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

Don’t be like the stupid carpenter in this story. These words aren’t just for home improvement, they are foundational! Words to build a life on!

Build your life on them and then, no matter the size of the storm, your house will stand.