Good morning,
Do we have Flood Insurance?
I still remember when I was just a kid living with my uncle on his farm and watching the river water from a long ways away showing up and flooding all the land around us, but his house was on a big dirt hill. The adults, just for fun, were fishing in the back yard. A lot of people around the world are facing really serious flooding this year, and even those of us in California are seeing almost twice the normal rain this year. I think that it’s pretty clear that God’s plan for living is always going to include disasters that threaten our lives as part of learning to trust God’s plan for our lives. At one point when Jesus was teaching his followers about living life God’s way he brought up the illustration of the all too familiar flooding they often had to face. He started this part of his teaching by saying, "So why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say?
(Luke 6:46) It’s all too true that we are going through a very difficult time in history and there are lots of Christians who are asking for help and protection, but Jesus points us back to ourselves when it comes to how we handle the flood. He went on to say, I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.(v.47) Our Enemy wants us to focus on the rising flood as though we are alone in this world dealing with an unfair disaster that we can’t control.
What Jesus pointed out to his followers was that we could count on floods being a part of our lives. Those of us who are genuine followers will have a very different outcome than those who listen but don’t obey the one they call their Lord. Jesus said, It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock.(v.48) If we are going to have God’s flood insurance, we will need to be people who purposefully look for our Lord’s directions, earnestly ask him for strength to obey, and then, with the Holy Spirit’s strength, keep on practicing obedience no matter how fearful we feel or how often we are attacked by God’s enemies. The authority of Jesus, the love of Jesus, the strength of Jesus, the grace of Jesus and the promises of Jesus then will be the solid rock on which we build our lives. Then Jesus promises us that, When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.(v.48) Then Jesus point out the difference for those who claim him as Lord but who pick and choose what they will obey. He said, But anyone who hears and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation.(v.49) Just knowing the Bible, teaching the Bible and judging others by the Bible without living it for ourselves is just as unsafe as building a house on sand. Jesus finished by saying, When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”(v.49) When each of us faces the Judge of All Mankind, Jesus, it is obedience, not knowledge that will make all the difference in our eternal standing. Dear Lord, please keep reminding us that what you require is our love and our obedience if we are to know the safety of the flood insurance that you offer us.
Luke 6:48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.
Roy Wisner
