A Wise Woman Builds
Dianne E. Balch, Guest Writer
Today’s Treasure
The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
Proverbs 14:1-3
Coming from a broken home, I did NOT want my marriage to also end in divorce. Yet, I spent almost 10 years in marriage tearing down what I so desperately wanted to build. Young moms are often stuck at home for endless hours with cute little tiny terrors known as children. I was no exception and far too often my husband would walk through the door exhausted only to be bombarded with my day’s frustrations. Imagine my joy and relief when my heart became Christ’s home!
He gave me a fresh start in knowing I was loved and forgiven. I was happy to relinquish the throne of my heart to King Jesus. I was thrilled to know that my body had become a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwelt IN me. Remember those early days in your spiritual life? Take a moment now to worship and praise Him for your redemption story.
As we begin our journey from salvation to glory, The LORD Most High slowly begins to reveal how we are to build our house and where. Psalm 92:15 declares that the LORD is our Rock. We come to Matthew’s gospel and Jesus gives a picture to envision and remember:
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. 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. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
Matthew 7:21, 24- 28
As believers, God‘s grace and mercy teaches us how to begin to sweep away the things in our lives that were proof that we were building our houses on the sand. His Word shows us how to establish a foundation that will take us through the storms that do inevitably come.
When Paul had established the Corinthian church, he wrote back to them a sober warning which is one we too must take to heart:
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is because the Day (of Judgement) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives IN you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God‘s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
I Corinthians 3:10-16
Each of us is being addressed in these passages. If our hearts are Christ’s home, we need to build our hearts, our lives, our houses that we call home on Jesus, the solid Rock of our salvation. Those blessed with marriage and children are establishing their home on that Rock by pointing to and living for Jesus. With the divorce rate in the church almost as high as in secular society, we need to pause, face reality, and speak truth in love into one another’s lives. We need to ask if we are playing games with ourselves, or fooling ourselves when the Body of Christ is not looking any different from those living around them. Are you making every effort to live reconciled in all your relationships and modeling a commitment to holiness in your thoughts, attitudes and actions? Scripture says:
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14
I have a gold plaque that has hung on many of my front doors, which simply says “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” That is my prayer, and it’s probably a desire you have for your home as well. But listen to Joshua’s words in this same verse that served as a warning to people who were drifting and wandering from the truth:
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you’re living. But as for me in my household, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:15
Dear Christian friend, we are living in exile in a land that does not honor our Lord. Coming through the COVID-19 pandemic has put new strains on our homes and our individual lives. Many people are weary, worried, sad and struggling. And it affects everyone around them. Repentance, renewal, refreshment, and revival begin with God’s children.
It starts with us. We need to get real.
Does part of our morning devotional include an honest heart check? Don’t we want to spend time, intimate time, with our holy God and Father? We are being challenged every day to live by worldly standards. We are living in a world where the rains are coming down, the winds are blowing and homes that are being built on sand crumble around us. There is a quote by Charles Spurgeon that I’d like to be true of me: “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of ages.” That’s another way of giving thanks in ALL things.
What an opportunity for the world to look to our home and see it as a lighthouse in the storm! Pray with me, that we will keep sweeping away any rubble that would dim that light.
PRAYER
Lord God, help us to build wisely upon the Rock of Jesus. Expose any sand or rubble around the foundation of our homes and our hearts that would cause us to compromise our witness that we are Your children. Help the husbands, children, friends and loved ones who enter our homes to sense the aroma of Christ, by the presence of Your Holy Spirit. Where there are unbelievers under our roofs, or in our spheres of influence, give us the grace to love well, forgive often, and pray more. In making disciples, give us wisdom in showing them how to build their houses on the Rock of Christ, as they learn to submit to His Lordship in their lives. We pray in Jesus’ name for ourselves, our families, and those around us who need to do a paradigm shift from sand to Rock. Amen.
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Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
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Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.