Walking by Faith

A man walks along an island of sand. All around him there are fruit-bearing plants and bushes with twigs and leaves that are perfect for building fires, but he knows he cannot build a home there because even though the island is very large it still never rises more than a few feet above the ocean and there could at any moment come a wave capable of completely reshaping the whole place. As he goes along, the man drags his feet through the sand, feeling his way along. Eventually he finds a rock buried beneath the sand. He still can't see it, but after a while he is able to get a rough understanding of size and shape of the rock. He may look around and see fruits ripe for the picking in the distance while the only trees that grow on the rock are thorny and uninviting, but he will make his home on the rock nonetheless. He does this because even though his sight is telling him that the rock is a barren place, he knows from experience and from speculation that when the storms come the sand will simply wash away and give him no safety while the rock will hold firm. The trees may look unpleasant, but if he can build a shelter using them for support or rely on them to discover the rock's hidden holes and crevices, that shelter will easily outlast any built in the appealing places of the island.


"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

“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 that 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 7:24-27