The hard stone is better

It's not uncommon for me to get started down the road on the scriptures, then end up moving another direction because I get inspired by an easter egg I find along the way.

I'm not moving very fast through the topical guide any more. It used to be a number of verses per day. Not so no more.

The verse that stopped me is Jacob 4:17. It's about building on a sure foundation, and using Christ as our corner stone. It refers to making Christ the head of the corner. For me, that means that he must be the centerpiece of our structure, the base of the base, the one thing that all other things rely on for stability; the one thing that all other things draw strength from.

As a home inspector, foundation issues are not new to me. They have to be built right, and then they have to be managed right. As a kid I found out that if you over-dig a footing trench, you can't just backfill it with the dirt you just dug out. That dirt is now unconsolidated, and will settle over time as the foundation presses down on it. It will cause foundation stress, and structural damage as the home tries to move to accommodate for the moving and damaged foundation.

But that's just the original construction. Then you can have other issues - first among them would be drainage issues. Over nearly a quarter century as a home inspector, I find that the one thing that is most damaging to a foundation is water. Usually it comes from a roof, and without a proper rain gutter system, it lands near the foundation, making the soil beneath the foundation wet and undermining the structure. The soil becomes mud, the house settles, and there is structural damage. There of course can also be rot/mold/termites in the basement or crawl space as well. These also fit into this scenario, as there are examples of what spiritual rot, mold and termites are in the structure that we are building in ourselves.

Here's the scripture reference: Jacob 4:17 "And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner?"

I am reminded of someone I knew that didn't want to believe what I believe. For her, it was too uncomfortable. Instead, she wanted to pick a different foundation rock. One that wasn't so exacting. She wanted to pick one of her choosing. Rounded corners, better appearance, more accommodating to the lifestyle she wanted to live. From a right now point of view, it appears to me now that she wasn't building a temple to Christ, or consecrating her life to Christ, instead she was building a structure to herself. On occasion and when it was convenient, she would say she would perhaps call it adequate for Christ, as judged by herself. There is a massive difference I believe between making your life a temple of God; consecrating your life to that purpose, and just building something and justifying it as good enough for God - or anyone else who asks.

And how does one know? The answer is in the scripture. What is the head of our corner stone? Is it Christ, or is it what we perceive to be ourselves? It might go without saying now that if it's what we perceive to be ourselves, it's not us at all - it's Satan and his minions, getting us to use whatever marshmallow foundation he can sell us.

And then we wonder why God is so hard on us; why our structure has so many cracks, mold and termites. Why life seems so unstable. Why we don't get the breaks that that guy over there does. Why people around us are so easy to hate. Why the world seems so dark.

This may be a good time to mention that life can certainly throw some major stuff at us even when we have the proper foundation - but our ability to manage that is greatly increased, because as the cold winds blow, our structure is at least stable. We can heat the house once, and the warmth doesn't leave so quickly in the blizzard. There is interior warmth and stability.

To the reader who objects "well you don't know my life" - you're right. What I do know is that I am close with people who do have the right corner stone, and have endured well pretty much all and anything life can throw at them. Physical pain, abuse from others, money issues, I know them all. Their stories would make any of us quiver in fear. After knowing these people, we'd be thrilled to keep our own lives by comparison. These people are temples to the Lord, and I admire all of them. While my life has been relatively easy (except when I made it hard), these people show the strength that comes from the right corner stone.

The popular myth that any rock that works for us works for God is Satan's lie. May we not reject the sure foundation because it's too hard. May we embrace it, then find the stability it provides. That stability isn't hard - it's easy. Instability is hard.