I have a friend who once had his house jacked so that it was supported by bedrock rather than clay. He shared with me that his house is now all “womperjawed” (yes, he’s from Texas). Not a thing in the house is square – but it’s solid. His house had been founded on clay so long that everything had shifted over time. In fact, much of it was square before he jacked it, because it had all shifted together. It looked good and felt comfortable, but it wasn’t solid.
When my friend made the decision to jack the house to found it on bedrock, he gave up the comfort and aesthetics he had before. His house doesn’t look as good as it once did, but now it’s solid and will stand the test of time.
What a great analogy for what happens to our house (heart) when we accept Christ and found our lives on the Rock. If you’ve just accepted Christ, people may start to realize that you don’t have it all together like you used to pretend that you did. Your flaws are going to show. But rejoice in that! God doesn’t waste anything. You’ll find that He uses your flaws as much or more as He uses your strengths to accomplish His purposes. You can afford to be vulnerable with people, because you’ve got a solid foundation.
*****
Now that you have the key, a closer look at the book of Nehemiah should open up God’s message to us. You might want to dog-ear these pages so that you can come back to them for reference on the meaning of each part of the metaphor. In the first chapter, we’ll begin to look at the passages from Nehemiah that are most relevant to the building our walls and guarding our gates.
