The Ruins

Worship

The Ruins (Jonathon Thulin ft. Moriah Peters)

Scripture

Luke 6:46-49
"But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

Observation

The Sermon on the Plains is a big teaching moment for Jesus. Unlike in the Sermon on the Mount, Luke seems to omit a lot of teaching to the Jews. These teachings are a guide for us to follow as Jesus' disciples. Jesus wants us to live a life that is convicting and that may cause people to hate us (Luke 6:22-23). On a side note, this verse is always eye opening to me, because so many Christians complain about a coming persecution in America, but that is exactly what Jesus says will happen. Verses 46-49, talk about those that hear Jesus' words and heed them and those that don't. In the song The Ruins, Jonathon Thulin sings "I am the one who builds my home Stone by stone on the shore I always thought my house would stand But every wave swept it all away". Thulin is singing about these verses, he is saying that he didn't heed Jesus' words and then he says something else that is profound, "I find you in the ruins that remain". When we don't heed Jesus' words, our lives will eventually crumble. We will fall and we will be consumed by the house that we built. The amazing thing is that so many of us, find Jesus in that rubble. So many of us find Jesus when we least expect it. And then we learn that doing things right and building the house on a solid foundation (Jesus) or as scripture calls it a cornerstone. 1 Peter 2:6 "Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” We must build our house on the chief Cornerstone. He will ensure that our foundation is sturdy and will protect us from the waves.

Application

For many years, I have built a house on sand that I thought would hold up. Whether that be trying to build a life with the wrong women and doing it the wrong way, or falling into gambling and drinking because it was "fun". I was searching for happiness in all the wrong places and I was leaving Jesus out of it because I know what I was doing was wrong. I was the person in the scripture, "But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great". What I noticed is that every time the house fell, I was stuck looking up and reaching my hand out to Jesus. I don't want to only reach out to Jesus from the ruins I want to reach out to Him and ask Him to guide my decision making. I want to build my house on Him and His foundation.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, continue to be the cornerstone of my life. Allow me to continue to focus on you and make decision that I know come from you. Give me the wisdom and the strength to stay focused on your word and allow me to continue to learn how to pray and spend time with you.