“Whosoever cometh to me. and heareth my sayings. and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house. and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not. is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:47–49).
The census man insists that the homemaker has no occupation -but we are, notwithstanding, all builders, and how we build can set the course of a nation and certainly of the future church. We build either foolishly on sand or wisely on the rock.
The foolish woman started to dig to lay her foundation. She dug until she felt quite stable in worldly prosperity. She was sure her footing was secure; so she began to build. For materials she used her own steadfastness, good works, and good citizenship. She taught her children good manners and reared them according to the psychology of the day. She was even very religious externally.
Now many of these things are good but not for a foundation, for there are forces in this world which will, like the blowing sands of time, slowly make us lose our moral values and family unity. Will this house weather the storms of this world in five, ten, or twenty-five years? Although this homemaker felt secure, she never dug deep enough to overcome the world before she built. “There is a way that seemeth right to man but the end is destruction.” In Job 8 we read, “He shall lean upon his house but it shall not stand.“ When the storms come and she needs support she will lean on the house she built and in this crucial time when she needs it most, it will fall.
The wise woman was not comfortable in this world. She too began to dig. She dug and dug and dug until she rested her weary soul on the solid rock, Christ Jesus; “for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ.”
Having this foundation, the wise woman began to build her house with the sure promises found in God’s Word, for she read Scripture daily and hid it in her heart so that she could give it to her children with their daily food. She obeyed Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he shall not depart from it.” The needs of the moment did not come before family devotions. Her family went to church where God’s Word was faithfully proclaimed. She taught her little ones how to pray and to walk in God’s footsteps. She prayed for them, lifting them up one by one before the throne of grace, for she knew she could have no greater joy than to know her children walked in the truth. She did not always shield her children but grounded them in God’s Word to prepare them for the chilling winds of the world.
Will this house weather the storm twenty-five years from now? Storms are sure to come and beat upon this house to destroy it, but it will stand fast for God’s grace is sufficient to preserve it, and the children of this homemaker will rise up and call her blessed, because she led them in the way of the Lord.
Wise or foolish – the way to build is very apparent. May we say with Joshua of old, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” For, “l saw tomorrow look at me from little children’s eyes and thought how carefully we’d teach if we were really WISE!”
Mrs. Wassink is the president of the Calvin Guild of Calvin CRC in Holland, Michigan.
The census man insists that the homemaker has no occupation -but we are, notwithstanding, all builders, and how we build can set the course of a nation and certainly of the future church. We build either foolishly on sand or wisely on the rock.
The foolish woman started to dig to lay her foundation. She dug until she felt quite stable in worldly prosperity. She was sure her footing was secure; so she began to build. For materials she used her own steadfastness, good works, and good citizenship. She taught her children good manners and reared them according to the psychology of the day. She was even very religious externally.
Now many of these things are good but not for a foundation, for there are forces in this world which will, like the blowing sands of time, slowly make us lose our moral values and family unity. Will this house weather the storms of this world in five, ten, or twenty-five years? Although this homemaker felt secure, she never dug deep enough to overcome the world before she built. “There is a way that seemeth right to man but the end is destruction.” In Job 8 we read, “He shall lean upon his house but it shall not stand.“ When the storms come and she needs support she will lean on the house she built and in this crucial time when she needs it most, it will fall.
The wise woman was not comfortable in this world. She too began to dig. She dug and dug and dug until she rested her weary soul on the solid rock, Christ Jesus; “for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ.”
Having this foundation, the wise woman began to build her house with the sure promises found in God’s Word, for she read Scripture daily and hid it in her heart so that she could give it to her children with their daily food. She obeyed Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he shall not depart from it.” The needs of the moment did not come before family devotions. Her family went to church where God’s Word was faithfully proclaimed. She taught her little ones how to pray and to walk in God’s footsteps. She prayed for them, lifting them up one by one before the throne of grace, for she knew she could have no greater joy than to know her children walked in the truth. She did not always shield her children but grounded them in God’s Word to prepare them for the chilling winds of the world.
Will this house weather the storm twenty-five years from now? Storms are sure to come and beat upon this house to destroy it, but it will stand fast for God’s grace is sufficient to preserve it, and the children of this homemaker will rise up and call her blessed, because she led them in the way of the Lord.
Wise or foolish – the way to build is very apparent. May we say with Joshua of old, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” For, “l saw tomorrow look at me from little children’s eyes and thought how carefully we’d teach if we were really WISE!”
Mrs. Wassink is the president of the Calvin Guild of Calvin CRC in Holland, Michigan.