“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:” (Matthew 7:24 KJV)
Have you ever noticed in the story about the wise man who built his house on the rock verses the foolish man who built his house on the sand, that the quality of the building is not important in either case. No part of the story addresses the quality of their building materials. No part of the story addresses the architecture of the design. No part of the story addresses the energy efficiency of either structure. The only differentiating factor was the foundation. Look at another passage closely… “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6 KJV) Notice that neither wisdom nor knowledge or understanding come from independent study. All studies need to be built on something. If the Lord is your foundation it makes everything built on it solid.
As kids we learned the song, “…The rains came down and the floods came up…” Why are the rains necessary? Is there any connection between the rains and the testing of our foundation? Sure, we all want the building inspector to show up when we are ready for him. We want some sort of certificate to show that what we have built is solid and has real value. Yet, the rains do not always come right when we are ready for them. Sometimes, although the structure stands, there is significant damage sustained. There is some predictability for severe weather in our lives, but how often is that forecast off? There is a deeper layer to this test. The testing is more than a test of your structure. It is a test of whether your structure is properly attached to His foundation. We must build securely fastened to His foundation from construction on.
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” (Mark 10:21 KJV)