One bitterly cold, late December day, my brother Stephen and I trekked out to see the ice on a river near our house in St. Clair, Michigan. It had been pretty cold for the past couple of weeks and we were both anxious to lace up our hockey skates for the new season. The Pine River was about 60-80 feet wide and approximately 30-40 feet deep, with a strong current taken in from the St. Clair River – this was no little creek. But we thought it would make a perfect hockey rink. Stephen (10 years old) decided to skate around as we tested the ice, and I (14) decided to stay in my boots for this quick trial run.
We headed south down the center of the river about 200 yards and the ice seemed to be in pretty good shape. We weren’t sure how thick it was, but hey, it looked fine. So, with excitement we started heading back down the river toward the trail that would take us home to grab the rest of our hockey equipment. As we neared the shoreline I decided to give the ice one more test by jumping up and down on it a few times. I remember shouting out to my brother, “yeah Stephen, this ice looks great!” – Just at that moment a plunged through the ice and into some very cold, deep water. Yikes.
Sometimes the attractions of the world system are very appealing. It appears the glaze foundation is strong enough to old things together. “Hey, other people are doing it, and they look like their having fun,” we might say. It seems to look strong enough to holds things together. The questions about life away from the foundation of Jesus Christ tempt us to test, to question, to wonder, and to sometimes skate out on thin ice – completely unaware of the collapse or total disaster that lies ahead. We wonder: is following Christ like I’ve been taught really worth it? Can satisfaction and ease be found outside of doing this “Christian thing”? We might think that a job earning $100-200k a year might really give us what we want out of life. We question, “is the underpinning of the world all that bad?” Maybe some of you think having a beautiful, good-looking spouse and a snazzy family will do it for you. We think, “Yeah, that would be the life.” Maybe even some of us believe that having a flourishing, successful ministry will give us peace of mind. We so often use the world’s evaluation tools to judge the Christian life: Are you happy? Are you healthy? Are you at ease? Are you wealthy? And the more we use these gauges, the more we slide out onto a foundation that is destined to collapse…
So, my question for you and for me is this: What underpins your life? What underpinning will you trust in or stand on when you have more questions than answers? What’s Underpinning Your Life? What are you trusting in? Self? Your questions or intellect? Your Good Deeds? Money? Marriage? Material Gain? Or…
After calling and individually instructing the Twelve, Jesus taught from a mountain to a huge group of people who had been following Him and coming to Him for healing. In many ways, they wanted to receive health, ease, and physical well-being. Not necessarily bad things at all. Yet, they needed to understand (as we do) the key issue at stake. They had to face ONE QUESTION that would underpin their lives. Therefore, Jesus closed his sermon in Luke chapter 6, with an analogical story that will help us determine what must underpin our lives. So, please turn with me to Luke 6:46-49. Where we will come face to face with the words of Christ…
Listen to the full audio message entitled “Life’s Underpinning” by simply clicking on the play button below or by subscribing to our iTunes podcast. This message was originally delivered on “Grad Night 2011” at Evangel Baptist Church on Sunday PM, May 22, 2011.
