Recently I purchased an in-ground basketball goal. It’s always been a dream of mine to have one in my driveway. In-ground goals are strong, firm, and this one had a 152 centimeter, glass backboard. I was ready.
After getting the goal on Facebook marketplace, I had my brother-in-law come over to dig a 1 meter hole, with a circumference of 40 centimeters. This took the entire afternoon.
The next day I had another friend help me get 14 bags of concrete, mix the concrete, and pour it down the hole. As the concrete was wet, the next step was to put the base of the goal in place, so we did. We then had to wait 4 days for the concrete to dry.
After the concrete was dry, we then proceeded to take the goal and put it on top of the base. But we encountered one problem: the base was bigger than the goal. We couldn’t believe it. All of that excitement, work, preparation, digging, and pouring of concrete was all in vain because I had chosen the wrong foundation for the basketball goal.
Foundations are essential in basketball goals, buildings, houses, but also in life. What we build our life on can often times disappoint–a job, a marriage, a family member, a place, a politician, or even a pastor. If any of these things serve as our foundation, then we are in for despair, because they simply do not fit the mold.
Our souls were designed for something better, something stronger, and something that fits.
Jesus said it this way in Matthew 7:26, “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”
The proper foundation of a human life is this: obedience to Jesus’ words. It is that simple, but it is not simplistic. Sadly, we choose to live in such a way that makes us the most money, gives us our dream home, positions us for the most power, and makes us look the most well-put together–and all of this, Jesus says, is sand. It’s a foundation that, when the rain and trials of life come, we will not fit what we worked so hard to put in place.
A new foundation is needed, and again, the foundation is not merely Jesus, but obedience to Jesus’ words. This foundation does not exempt us from the storms, but it positions us to endure them, so that when they do come, we are not moved. We fit with Jesus. He protects us, provides for us, and we become one with Him in this life and the one to come.
With Jesus,
Anthony.