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God’s Word Is the Only Stable Foundation
You can’t become what God wants you to be on a faulty foundation. We’re given a lot of different options for what will be the foundation of our lives:
• Popular culture. Some people think they’ll simply do what every other person is doing. If it’s popular, that’s what they do, too. Yet what’s popular today won’t be popular tomorrow. Basing your life on popular culture is like building a house on a constantly moving foundation. It doesn’t work!
• Tradition. Other people build their lives on what has always been done or how their parents did it. That does make a little sense. Tradition becomes tradition because it works. But no tradition lasts forever. It eventually wears out, becomes obsolete, and is invalid. In Mark 7:8 Jesus tells the Pharisees never to put tradition before truth. It’s a good reminder for all of us.
• Reason. God gave us the ability to reason; we need to use it. But our reason isn’t infallible. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (NIV). The reason is the smartest among us will falter at times. It’s to be expected. Only God can be trusted all the time.
• Emotions. Some build their lives on a feeling. If it feels right, they do it. But feelings lie — they lie all the time. You lie to yourself more than anyone else. If you live by your feelings, you’ll spend your life manipulated by your moods.
If it doesn’t work to build your life on popular culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, what should we build our lives upon? God’s Word.
Jesus says this in Matthew 7:24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
If you build your life on the rock of God’s Word, truth never changes. Popular culture changes, traditions grow stale, reason can be faulty, and emotions lie.
Yet God’s Word never changes.
You may not always understand his Word. You may not always like it. It won’t always be politically correct.
But it’s the only thing stable enough to build our lives upon.
This devotional © 2014 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can’t become what God wants you to be on a faulty foundation. We’re given a lot of different options for what will be the foundation of our lives:
• Popular culture. Some people think they’ll simply do what every other person is doing. If it’s popular, that’s what they do, too. Yet what’s popular today won’t be popular tomorrow. Basing your life on popular culture is like building a house on a constantly moving foundation. It doesn’t work!
• Tradition. Other people build their lives on what has always been done or how their parents did it. That does make a little sense. Tradition becomes tradition because it works. But no tradition lasts forever. It eventually wears out, becomes obsolete, and is invalid. In Mark 7:8 Jesus tells the Pharisees never to put tradition before truth. It’s a good reminder for all of us.
• Reason. God gave us the ability to reason; we need to use it. But our reason isn’t infallible. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (NIV). The reason is the smartest among us will falter at times. It’s to be expected. Only God can be trusted all the time.
• Emotions. Some build their lives on a feeling. If it feels right, they do it. But feelings lie — they lie all the time. You lie to yourself more than anyone else. If you live by your feelings, you’ll spend your life manipulated by your moods.
If it doesn’t work to build your life on popular culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, what should we build our lives upon? God’s Word.
Jesus says this in Matthew 7:24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
If you build your life on the rock of God’s Word, truth never changes. Popular culture changes, traditions grow stale, reason can be faulty, and emotions lie.
Yet God’s Word never changes.
You may not always understand his Word. You may not always like it. It won’t always be politically correct.
But it’s the only thing stable enough to build our lives upon.
This devotional © 2014 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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About this Plan
The Bible is your bread and water and will sustain you for a lifetime of faithful service. But you have to do more than just read God’s Word! In this series, Pastor Rick walks through the steps of effective Bible study and application so that you can build your life on the solid foundation of God’s Word and let it change the way you live.
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