Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Friday, May 13, 2016

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."¹

I have read that the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy was built from 1173 to 1372. This 12-story, solid marble structure began to lean even before it was completed. Quite significantly, the word "pisa" means "marshy land," which gives some clue as to whyâ€"after the first three stories were completed, the ground underneath the tower began to sink. Also, its foundation was only 10 feet deep! Scientists have now been working to keep this massive structure in place. They reported that the tower had been moving one-twentieth of an inch each year. Unless scientists and engineers could fix the foundation, in time this tower would eventually collapse.

It goes without saying that no building is any stronger or surer than its foundation.

Compare the tower of Pisa with its ten-foot foundation, to the foundations of the great European cathedrals. Some of these foundations go down as far as forty or fifty feet. In some instances, they form a mass of stone below the ground as great as that of the visible building above the ground. To build a great life is like building a great cathedral. You start with a sure foundation.²

And there is no greater foundation to build our life on than Christ Jesus, the solid rock and cornerstone of God's kingdom, which brings to mind the old hymn we used to sing as kids: "On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand." Pity we don't teach many of these old hymns to our kids today along with the new praise choruses.

Pastor Neil Strait tells about a woman who fought a long battle with cancer. Her brother, Dr. Earl Wolf, made the trip from Missouri to Pennsylvania to attend her funeral. While he was there, he spent some time leafing through his sister's Bible. He found this handwritten poem tucked in its pages:

       Often on the Rock I tremble,
       Faint of heart and weak of knee;
       But the steadfast Rock of Ages
       Never trembles under me.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, I thank You that Jesus Christ is the living foundation of Your Church and of Your Kingdom. Help me to make Him the sure foundation of my life and of my family. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. Ephesians 2:19-21 (NIV).
2. Author Unknown. Cited in Wit & Wisdom, October 7, 1998.

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