Day 16: Jesus is The Rock

One of the many fun things I like to do with children is sing. When my own children were little, we’d sing all kinds of songs. Now that I’m a grandma, I find myself singing songs again. Not too long ago as I was sitting playing with my one-year old grandson, after we played pat-a-cake, I started singing an old song I had not sung in a couple of decades probably. Out it came, and he was mesmerized by my singing and hand motions. He watched intently and then I took his little hands and helped him do the motions with me. I was teaching my grandson this song:

The Wise Man Built His House

The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came tumbling down…

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the wise man’s house stood firm.

Oh, the blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayer go up
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s not the whole song, but it’s the part that I want to focus on as once again I was reminded of this song when I was reading through the Gospel of Matthew tonight. In chapter seven we learn about the wise and foolish builders. This is exactly where this children’s song came from.

Jesus is The Rock!

We are to build our foundation on Jesus Christ. We are to listen to His teachings and put them into practice. Anyone who does this is considered wise, and is like a person who builds a house on solid rock (Matthew 7:24).

When storms of life come, we don’t “splat!” as the song sings. We don’t fall when we build our lives on Jesus. We stand firm.

Jesus is our support. Jesus is our foundation. Jesus is The Rock!

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried walking on sand, but I have. It’s hard to walk in sand because it moves. It’s unstable. I’ve actually slipped and fallen walking in sand. You can’t really build anything on it because it won’t last. I’ve tried that too when my children were little. We made sand castles. One wave and “splat!” The castles never lasted long. The foundation of sand is not trustworthy.

When I think of who Jesus is to me, He absolutely is my Rock! I’ve endured many storms in life and while some of them seemed to knock me down, my support never gave way. That’s who Jesus is to me. He is my life support, my firm foundation, my Rock!

My hope for you this Advent season is that you, too, will sit with Jesus, listen to His teachings, like my grandson listened to my singing. Listen intently to Jesus, like my grandson listened intently to me. Be willing to practice what Jesus teaches you, like my grandson was willing to let me take his little hands do the motions with him. Then stand firm, and practice what you have been taught. Be wise and choose to build your foundation on Jesus The Rock.