“Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over.” (1 Cor 3:10-14 MSG)
Everywhere we turn, people are talking about faith. “You have to have faith,” or “Just have a little faith.” Self-help books, seminars, emails, television shows and websites all encourage us to believe for the impossible – as if believing is enough. The truth is a little more sophisticated. All the positive thinking in the world is not going to make a 4 foot 90 year-old woman the next NBA draft pick. Like currency, faith is only as good as the credibility of the authority that backs it up.
People often say they have faith yet lack a solid basis. One television theme song a few years ago said, “I’ve got faith of the heart.” What does that mean? We generally associate the heart with feeling, so does it mean our faith is rooted in a feeling? If that is the case ask anyone with a little life experience and they will tell you, “You are on very shaky ground.” The Bible tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9) This certainly doesn’t sound like a good place to put our faith.
Faith must be rooted in the truth of God’s promises. If He has said something, you can take it to the bank. If He hasn’t, you may hope, but there is no assurance. To say it simply, Faith without foundation is fantasy. It is a dream with no guarantees. On the other-hand, God’s Word is truth. If we choose to ignore it and take a different route, we ignore the solid foundation and build instead upon the sand. This approach eventually leads to an unproductive and unsatisfying life – faith without foundation is frustration. However, if we accept His Word, and build our life upon it – with full faith and confidence that He will do all He has said he would do, “exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think,” (Eph 3:20) – then we will be able to focus our life clearly on His purpose and pleasure. Foundational faith has focus!
-Shalom!