Perspective: Stone Monuments or Sandcastles

I share these thoughts, hoping they are of help to someone else.

Stone Monuments or Sandcastles

Scripture:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell — and great was its fall!

Matthew 7:24-27

All of my castles in the sand - washed away again
And I'm left back where I began tonight
The only thing that can ever fill me up
Has been right in front of me all the time

From "All Along" by Remedy Drive

Yesterday, I ran into a man whom I knew from my previous job. We spoke for a few minutes about what we are doing now and what we've heard from our former coworkers. I learned from him that the company for which we once worked lost all of its business in its most lucrative markets. This company has always had shaky footing in these markets for legal reasons, and now, due to political pressure and court rulings, they have lost a great deal of their business.¹

This news brought to mind the project I worked on nearly a year ago. My boss was pushing this project in order to bring the company's product into the legal limits of a certain market. I thought about all the hard work and testing that went into the project. I remembered all the stress that I put myself through at the time. I thought about all the "fires" that my coworkers and I had to put out and about all the modifications to the program that I had to make, all to keep the clients in those markets happy. Now I feel as though all my work and all my worry was for naught.

At least I got paid, right?

This news, like a lot of things, has made me think about the bigger picture. What are we doing with our lives? For what are we working? What are we trying to accomplish? In what are we putting our faith?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses an analogy of a person who builds a house on a rock foundation and a person who builds a house on sand. The house built on the rock foundation holds firm when the storms come, but the house built on the sand is left in ruins. This is sound advice for anyone who sets out to build a house. Any contractor will tell you that a good solid foundation is essential for building a sturdy structure. Of course, Jesus is not actually talking about literal houses here: He is talking about our lives.

The bad thing about sand is that it does not keep its shape. Most of us who have ever visited the beach or even played in a sandbox have probably, at least once, built a sandcastle. One puts a lot of effort into building a sandcastle, and he or she is proud when it is finished. When the tide comes in or when the rain falls, though, there is little or no evidence that the castle even existed.

We live in a very shallow and materialistic world. Society puts a lot of pressure on us to seek after things that are vain and temporary. Often, people fall into this trap and go chasing after dreams that are, in the end, nothing but sandcastles. They give enjoyment for a brief time, but they make no lasting impact. They do not last forever, and, when all is said and done, these things amount to nothing.

Recently, I attended a workshop for Sunday School teachers in small churches. The leader of the workshop began with a story from the Old Testament book of Joshua. As the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God parted the Jordan River, allowing the people to cross over. Twelve men each took a large stone from the middle of the river. When the Israelites camped for the night, they set up the twelve stones as a monument to God. When future generations saw the monument and inquired about what it meant, they would be told all the great things that God had done for Israel.²

What are we building with our lives? Are we building things that are eternal or things that are temporal? Are we eternally touching the lives of others, or are we trying to accumulate all of the wealth, power, and fame for ourselves that we can?

On what foundation are we building our lives? Are we putting our hope and faith in things that are solid or in things that or uncertain? Are we putting all of our faith and hope in "Christ the solid rock," or are we trusting in "shifting sand"?³

What will we leave behind when we are gone? Are we making a positive or negative impact on the world around us? Are we making any impact at all? Will our legacy be like the stone monument, pointing others to God, or will our legacy be like a sandcastle washed away by the tide the moment we die?

Let's all reexamine our priorities. Let's stop putting our faith in things that are uncertain. Let's stop building sandcastles with our lives and start building eternal monuments to God.


Notes:
1 - If you really want more details, run an Internet search on news regarding electronic bingo in Alabama.
2 - Joshua 3-4
3 - From "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" by Edward Mote


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