Sermon Reflection: Foundations

As I consider the words of Dave's Sermon about a good foundation, I find myself reflecting on his illustration of rebar.  I am not a builder like Dave and therefore do not know the procedure for pouring a good foundation for a building.  However, I do understand the value of rebar being laid in the concrete.  I have seen how concrete can crack.  I imagine that without rebar, those cracks can turn into breaks, which can lead to the concrete breaking up into smaller pieces and no longer sticking together. 

In order for my faith to be strong and carry the load, it needs to built up with God's rebar.  I am reminded of things like the Word, fellowship, prayer, service, and many other things that God has provided to strengthen us from the foundation up.  Do I try to build with my own materials, or do I faithfully allow God's rebar to strengthen me inwardly?

I find myself reflecting on one of the passages from the sermon.   1 Peter 2 seems to indicate that my disposition and attitude can actually change how the building material looks.   

For those who believe, the Bible says that God lays a "choice stone," a "precious cornerstone" and that "he who believes in him will not be disappointed." 

However, this stone looks different to those who do not believe.  For those who do not believe, it is a "stone of stumbling" and a "rock of offense." 

How can the same stone be so different for different people?  When I came inside this morning, I didn't stumble over the corner stone, the foundation stone, rebar, or any other building material.  Why?  The builders faithfully made it a part of the building and it now performs its function. 

However, the half-built building down the road is another story.  Someone did not use the proper materials and had to abandon it.  It leans and is not safe.  Bricks, rebar, nails, and other building materials are laying around and make the area unsafe.  This is the picture I get of one who disbelieves and does not use the building material that God has provided but has substituted his own building materials.  The material God provided lays on the ground, neglected, and is now a tripping hazard for those who choose not to believe.  

This is kind of what my life would look like if I did not have the proper foundation and faithful use the building materials from God.  Whether it is my family, my job, or anything else in my life, if I don't build using God's materials according to his blueprints, then my life will eventually fall in.  If it doesn't happen now, it definitely will happen when my time on earth ends.   

I do not want to build with inferior materials that will fail in the end.  I do not want God's stone to be a stone of offense or a stone of stumbling for myself.  How bad would it be to reject the only thing that will last for eternity!  How ironic would it be to stumble over what can save me rather than pick it up and utilize it!  How sad it would be to have passed on what is best in favor of what is withering away!  I want God's stone to be my chief cornerstone.  I want it to be the foundation of my life.  I want it to be what I build my education, my career, my family, my friendships, and my legacy on.  I want to accept God's rebar to give me the lasting strength that only he can give.

It seems then, that the question is simple.  Will I believe and be faithful and obedient so that God's foundation stone can become my dependable and unfailing foundation for all eternity?  Or will I be unfaithful and disobedient so that God's foundation stone is nothing more than a stone of offense or stumbling, leaving me with stones that will break, crumble and fail, leading to my eternal death?