Differentናሙና

Your Different Foundation

In Oklahoma, where Life.Church began, the soil is red because of the red clay between people’s feet and the Earth’s bedrock. For builders and homeowners, this is a problem. Clay makes for a firm foundation when it’s dry, but when storms come, it gets wet, pliable, and it moves. As a result, buildings move, crack, and settle. And when a building’s foundation is off, everything is off. Pipes break, doors won’t shut, and walls crack. What’s the solution? Foundation experts place piers connecting the foundation all the way down through the clay and shale to the bedrock. Then, the clay can do what it does, but the building stands firm, because it’s connected to a rock that won’t move. 

With Peter’s experience, He probably could’ve tipped off Oklahoma builders long before they figured out foundations. Peter understood foundations because Jesus pointed him toward a firm footing when He famously renamed him. His name had been Simon, but Jesus named him Peter, which means rock. Though Peter got off to a rocky start, questioning Jesus, cutting off the ear of a soldier, and denying Jesus three times, he would later become a rock for the early church and write the letters we’re reading today. 

… we are built on the bedrock of life, and He is Jesus.

It was with great personal emotion, in 1 Peter chapter 2, when Peter referred to Christians as living stones being built into a spiritual house. A house with Jesus as the cornerstone. A cornerstone is the stone chosen to bring alignment and foundation to every other part of the house. This was Peter’s way of saying we are built on the bedrock of life, and He is Jesus. We have a different foundation. Others may not see it or understand it. They may even reject it. Our foundation is a rock more fiery than our earth’s core, deeper than our fleshly desires, more powerful than our world’s rulers, and stronger than our most unrelenting struggles. 

As you read 1 Peter chapter 2, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the bedrock of your life. Ask these questions: Do I look to culture and government to make the world right, or do I look to Jesus and His Church? Do I try to control situations, or do I seek God with the good works and deep trust He asks for? When people treat me unjustly, do I respond with love? When I suffer, do I patiently trust God, or do I try to find my own way?

Pray: God, what is my life founded on? Are there any places where I’m leaning on “clay” instead of You? Where is my foundation cracked or weak? I ask You to connect me to the bedrock of life. Amen.