Metaphor Construction

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Construction analogy
The lord uses construction and building in many of his analogies and parables. Perhaps it’s because he was a carpenter by trade. The metaphor I think of most is the one where he said,
“Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a crock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

We live in a time of beautiful construction. Buildings that can generally weather earthquakes, hurricane force winds, storms of incredible power. Why? Because today’s engineers are required to build with building codes. There are rules and guidelines for the kind of shingles to use, the kind of construction techniques, the kind of materials, the kind of license required. There are codes for everything. It is painful to build. It is costly. It takes time. But when it is complete the building is strong and can endure.

And yet with all our understanding of the importance of building codes, it seems that most of the world have abandoned any effort to build families with guidelines, standards, eternal principles – or in other words – eternal family building codes.

And yet these codes have been revealed. Why would we ever ignore the building codes for building an eternal life, when these codes have been revealed. We can either choose to build our homes and our families upon the revealed codes that will strengthen them and help them endure not only through the millennium, but through eternity. Or we can be like the foolish man, who chose to build his house using compromised materials, on a weak foundation. Trying to build it fast and cheap.