Monday, August 25, 2008

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Going Deep with God

"He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on a rock" (Luke 6:48).

If you grew up going to Sunday School like I did, you are probably very familiar with the story of the two men who each built houses.  One built his house upon the Rock — Jesus — and his house stood up in the tough times.  The other man built his house upon the sand — without Jesus — and it fell flat when the storms of life came.  We probably even sung the song about the wise man and the foolish man.

Familiarity with stories in the Bible often means that we miss things that are very important and that is no where more true than with this story.  I have always heard that we are to build our lives on the foundation of Jesus.  That is true (see 1 Corinthians 3:11), but that is not actually the lesson here, or at least, not the primary emphasis!  We need to pay attention to what each scripture is actually saying!

This passage actually begins with Jesus asking a question:  "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46).  If we were not paying attention, we would have missed the point of this whole story.  This is a message about us doing the things that Jesus/God says to do.  And here, like in Matthew 16:22, we find that it not possible to call him Lord and not obey him (see the August 1/08 Challenge).  This is not a story about who is the foundation.  There is no other than Jesus.  The point of this story is how we get down to where he is!  How do we get down to the "Lord, Lord" foundation?  We do what he says!

"I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.  He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock" (Luke 6:47-48).

This passage is actually about obedience.  It is about hearing the word and doing it.  That is the only way to go deep with God.  If we are obedient, we are the wise man.  If we are disobedient, we are the foolish man.  The obedient will survive anything that life throws at them.  The foolish and disobedient will cave at the first sign of trouble.  James says the same thing, just in case we want to be sure of what scripture is actually saying!

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:22-25).

We hear much about going deep with God.  And maybe we have even said that we want and deeper walk with him.  It is easy!  Obey him!  What has he already shown us or told us to do?  Have we done it?  Because, if we haven't yet done what he has told us to do, why do we think he would tell us more!  He won't!  He is still waiting for obedience.  In the words of John H. Sammis,

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Obeying the Lord, saying, "Yes, Lord, I will not only hear but do whatever you say," is the way to dig down deep and lay the foundation of your life on rock.  "When a flood came, the torrent struck that house" — and these storms will come to each and every life — when it came to "that house" that through obedience to Christ was dug down deep and founded on rock, the storm "could not shake it, because it was well built" (Luke 6:48).  Not only could it not destroy the house, it could not even shake it!

Would you like to be unshakable?  Dig down deep.  Go deep with God.  Build your life on rock.  Rock solid.  And the way to do that is simple.  Listen for and read the word of God.  Hear it.  And then do everything and anything that you hear him say!  That is a house, that is a life, that is well built and will survive the test of time.

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