The Rock of Soul

Psalm 55:22 says Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Jesus is Lord. We call Him Lord but do we realize what that really means. Lord means someone who has power and authority. When we refer to Jesus as our Lord that means we are giving Him power and authority in our lives. When you become a Christian you pray to receive Jesus as your savior and Lord. Many Christians old and new accept the savior part of Jesus easily but we seem to forget about the Lord part and what that truly entails.

I have been meditating on Luke 6:46-49 this is the story of the wise man who built His house on the rock and the foolish man who built his house in the sand. I remember hearing this story when I was a child but read in its entirety it takes on a whole new meaning to me. Verse 46 says But why do you call me "Lord, Lord," and not do the things I say? Its funny Jesus is asking the people like I'm sure He is asking many proclaiming Christians today….Why do you call me Lord and not do the things that I say to do? Jesus has power and authority but it’s almost like we don't really believe that He does.

I was thinking about my little girl. She is two years old and right now I am trying to establish my authority with her. I tell her to do certain things and I expect her to do them because she is my child and I know what is best for her. Let’s pretend every time I asked her to do something she said yes mam and then turns around and disobeys, I would wonder why she gave me the respect of saying yes mam. It would be pointless for her to do that and not be obedient. She might as well have said no because her actions proved she didn't respect my authority. That's what we as Christians do when we call Jesus our Lord yet we refuse to do the things that he asks of us. We acknowledge that He is Lord with our mouth but not with our actions so, after Jesus asked that question He made another statement. Whoever comes to me and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock and when the flood arose the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation against which the stream beat vehemently and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.

What stands out to me in these verses is that there are two kinds of people, the ones who dig deep in the Word of God and lays the very foundation of their lives on the Rock of Christ; and the ones who hear the Word read or taught and maybe even acknowledge that Jesus is Lord but they allow their foundation to be in worldly substances. It says the man who heard and did nothing built his house on the earth. What is on this earth or in the world? Ephesians 2:2-4 basically says before you were a Christian you walked according to the course of this world, following after Satan by fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. When we choose our own desires over what the Word of God teaches than we build our house on the sand. Our foundation must be placed on the Rock and that rock is Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior and Lord. If we build our foundation apart from that our house will immediately fall when the storm comes and we will experience great ruin.

I don't know about you but that scares me and makes me very sad because not only does this apply to our lives as individuals but also as a nation. Our nation was founded on the Rock but slowly we have allowed satan to tear apart our foundation stone by stone. What happens when we are no longer founded on the Rock. It will fall and there will be great ruin. Without God and the Word of God as our foundation we will fall apart, but it has to start with the individual, each and every person must realize that there is only one true way to have a house that cannot be shaken, it must be founded on the Rock.

The Bible is the Word of God and food for your soul. I encourage and challenge you to feast on what the master has prepared for you and walk in obedience to His truths. Dig deep, proclaim Jesus Lord over your life and allow Him to give you the tools you need to lay a foundation that will not be shaken or moved. Jesus is Lord...and He wants to be the Rock of your soul. (Lesley Hays)