House Building 101 4/28/2017

Good Morning,

Here comes the Door County Raspberry Sorbet Coffee and a bowl of oatmeal to start this Friday morning in fine fashion.

I was watching a bird continue to build it's nest at the peak of our garage last night. It nestled the nest between an outdoor light and the siding. The nest in all honesty does not look as substantial as other bird nests I have seen in this lifetime. Last weekend I laid out some small strips of cloth on the driveway, hoping  the robin would pick them up and use them to strengthen her nest. The next day the strips were gone, but they were not placed upon the nest.

Later I walked our yard and noticed another nest was built within a fir tree of ours. It was built on three sturdy branches, supported by the pine bows and low and behold it was held together by those cloth strips. It has a much better chance of surviving a wind storm than the one perched on the small base of a light, open to wind and rain. This robin was a little smarter that the other one.

Jesus often talked about homes. Here is a parable of His.

Matthew 7:24-27New International Version (NIV)

The Wise and Foolish Builders

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

The Word of God, lived out by faith and obedience is the way to build a life that can sustain the blows that come our way without collapsing under the strain. When we practice the way of God, we have a solid foundation for our life to build upon. Marriages are stronger, decisions are easier, we are able to forgive quicker and love more.

The Word of God is laid out for us in the 66 books of the Bible. It is there for us to read and digest. But we must open it to read it, and then we must obey what is written to grow. Like the strips of cloth, meant to be used but were not picked up, and not used, we must pick up the Bible and read it. If we don't read and obey, we will not be prepared to battle off the storms of life. One bird is ready. One bird is not.

Building a life today? Are you following the written directions?

God bless,

Marty