Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.
But "no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (see First Corinthians 3:11). Our resources apart from Jesus always come up short. We can't build a tower which can bridge the gap between heaven and earth. Only Jesus is the ladder on which angels ascend and descend (see John 1:51) We can't oppose the army of Satan with the few troops at our disposal. Jesus has already overcome the world (see 16:33). This is why Jesus tells us we must put him first. We must "renounce all" possessions and hate "father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even" our own lives. The struggle is simply too great for any other strategy to succeed. We do disservice to our families and our possessions if we try to defend and build for them apart from Jesus. We set them up to fail. Our foundations, in such cases, turn out to be sand.
What is the strength that God gives us? What can we do built on his rock solid foundation? Finally, we can love one another.
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
We don't really realize how much is set against this love. This is what the enemy fights against. He wants us divided from one another and from God so that we cannot live out this call to love. The message this morning is that to succeed we don't need to reinvent the wheel. The foundation is there to build on. We just need to realize we need it.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
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