Tuesday, October 28, 2008

"Sand or Stone?"

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock.”
“And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.”
Matthew 7:24 & 26 (NAS)

While thumbing through a new catalog tonight (11-22-04) I noticed a quote that said “Write your hurts in the sand... Carve your blessings in stone.” I don’t know about you, but sometimes I carve my hurts in stone and write my blessings in the sand; so, this saying was a timely reminder for me to do the right thing regarding my blessings as well as my hurts.

Whatever is written in sand will soon be covered over when the first winds of painful adversity blow into our lives. Sometimes the troubles that come into our lives seem like an Oklahoma tornado in our hearts, leaving a path of destruction and devastation that only God can restore. In contrast to writing in sand, drawings, symbols and words that have been carved in stone throughout history often remain for centuries. In the same way, we have writings that have remained for centuries from Paul, King David, Moses and others. Their God-inspired communication will remain forever as a part of God’s Holy Word to each one of us. Even when the storms of life almost seem to come nonstop, if we have allowed the eternal messages from God’s Word to be carved into the tablets of our hearts, we can stand firm and have our faith in God strengthened; then those who come into our lives from all generations are able to read God’s message clearly by our actions, words and deeds in the midst of adversity and pain.

When I was a child, we learned a song in Sunday School entitled “The Wise Man and The Foolish Man.” Some of the words were “The wise man built his house upon the rock..... And the rains came tumbling down. Oh the rains came down and the floods came up, but the house on the rock stood firm." The next verse dealt with the foolish man and where he built his house: “The foolish man built his house upon the sand.... And the rains came tumbling down. Oh the rains came down and the floods came up, but the house on the sand fell flat." I may not have recalled all the words perfectly, but you get the idea–it makes a difference where we choose to establish our lives. We do have a choice on whether or not to build on the solid foundation of salvation in Jesus Christ or on the weak and insecure foundation outside of God’s will for our lives.

In this season of Thanksgiving we are often reminded to do as the hymn says–“...Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.” Where are you keeping track of those blessings as you count them? Are they written in sand or stone? God has provided so many blessings for us that it would be difficult to keep track of them all by using only paper and pen, although it is good to do this. In addition to that, let’s ask God this Thanksgiving to write His blessings on the tablets of our hearts so that our minds can pull them up and meditate upon them at any time of the day or night. Share those blessings from God that are carved in stone upon your heart’s tablet with others, not just on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year. After all, Thanks-”LIVING” is just as important as Thanks-”GIVING.”
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Dear God,
Thank You that You are teaching me how to write my hurts in the sand so that they quickly disappear. I need You, as the Author and Finisher of my faith, to carve Your blessings on the tablet of my heart so that I can truly say “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Please help me to be strong enough to have a life of Thanks-“LIVING” as well as a life of Thanks-“GIVING.”
In Jesus’ Name I pray,
Amen.
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© 11-22-04 & 10-28-08 by Janet Faye Broyles of Edmond, Oklahoma
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