The House that Richard Built

by James D. Smith

  Matthew 7:24-27

  As I have attempted to build my life, I have gone through periods where I have built on faulty foundations. The fact about life is that storms are coming. Nowhere can I find a promise that life is going to be rosy and comfortable. That promise is not in the Bible or anywhere else. I have been through some storms that have rocked my life and tore at the very foundations upon which I was building that life.

  Through all the storms, I have found only one foundation that is worth building on. It is the only one that will last. I have decided that a "slab construction" upon this foundation will build a marriage that will last through whatever storms may come. It will build a family. It will build relationships. It will build businesses. It will build reputations and legacies. That foundation? The very Word of God.

  "Therefore, the Lord GOD said:

  ‘Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,

  a tested stone,

  a precious cornerstone,

  a sure foundation;

  the one who believes will be unshakable.’" Isaiah 28:16

  I remember one night that I sat huddled in a room as a storm raged outside. Lightning lit the sky and thunder shook the very earth. The winds blew and beat ferociously against the house and rain came down so hard that you could not see but a few feet outside the windows. I felt genuine fear that we would be blown off the face of the earth. I quietly left my room and tiptoed through the house to find my parents. I actually went to their door and opened it, peering into their bedroom. There they were, asleep in the middle of the storm. "How could they sleep?" I wondered. "Don’t they realize how bad the storm is? Don’t they know we’re going to die?"

  Yet there they slept, like Jesus in the boat when the disciples were expecting to drown. They were secure because they knew that the house would stand. They knew because they had faith in the foundation upon which Richard had built the house. I closed the door and went back to bed that night, my heart at ease because they were at ease. I fell asleep fairly quickly after that and slept through the rest of the storm.

  Upon what foundation are you building your life? With what stones are you constructing that which the rest of your life from this day forward will rest upon? Will you be prepared to withstand the storms that are coming? What about your marriage? Will it survive the storms? Your family? Will they be strong enough to weather the storms of life?

  I am working on a marriage that will withstand the storm because I know that storms will come. My first marriage did not last and it is a great example of what happens when you build on a faulty foundation. My first marriage was built upon a foundation of selfishness, immaturity, immorality, and almost no Jesus. These were the blocks that I built the foundation with, they were my sins. We were young and we were fools for not laying a proper foundation. Needless to say, we built on sand and many have suffered because of it, not the least of which were the children.

  When the storms came, there was nothing to hold the marriage and the family together. It came crashing down. While going through the storm of divorce, my faith in God also showed how weak I had allowed it to become. I did not have a strong foundation and I crumbled, allowing everything I had been building to fall into ruin. I soon found myself as far away from God as I had ever been in my life, in sin that I had vowed never to commit.

  Do not tell me that the foundation isn’t important.

  Thankfully, God would not let me get away from him that easily. I had some important lessons to learn about faith and love. I learned them. I am remarried now and this time I am building on a solid rock foundation of love, unselfishness, faith, and Jesus. In eight years of being married the first time, I never even came close to what God meant for us to enjoy in a marriage. I now know what a great marriage is like. But a great marriage, just like everything else in life, must be built on a solid foundation.

  Take some time to lay a solid foundation for your life; it is time that will be rewarded down the road. Consider each of the following areas and write down the cornerstones of your convictions about each. You could call these cornerstones your core values. What is the most important thing for you to cling to in each of these areas? Are these cornerstones based on the chief cornerstone? Are they based upon God’s very Word?

  Practical Application:

  Your Spiritual Relationship (What are your core convictions about God? The Bible? The Church? How strong are these convictions?)

  Your Health (What do you believe your responsibilities are to your body? Is the way you are taking care of your health (a gift from God) consistent with your convictions?)

  Your Marriage (What is your convictions about marriage and divorce? What would you say are the blocks you are using for the foundation of your marriage (love, selfishness, etc…)?)

  Your Family (Do your kids know what’s most important to you? What would your kids say you value most based upon your actions (God, career, sports, etc…)

  Your Career (What are your fundamental beliefs about work? How would you rate your work ethic? Do you conduct yourself at work the same way you would at church?)

  Your Finances (What’s your conviction about debt and does it match God’s teachings? What’s your belief about tithing or being a steward?)

  Lesson 3 - Measure Twice, Cut Once

  It was probably the first or second time that I went to work with the carpenter that he shared with me the proverb, "Measure twice, cut once." There are three results of cutting a board. It will either be just right, too long or too short. If it is just right, great; you have done well. But if it is too long or too short, it will not fit. If you nail a board into place that is too long, when you discover it you have to rip it out, re-measure it, and re-cut it. This takes a lot of time and is very frustrating. If you cut it too short, the board is useless. There is no way to lengthen a board that is too short.

  One time Richard sent me to the truck to get a "board stretcher." Not wanting to seem like I did not know what I was doing, away I went and rummaged through the truck looking for anything that resembled a "board stretcher." I came back and said, "I can’t find it," only to be met with rolls of laughter from everyone. The fact is, there is no such thing as a "board stretcher."

  In building a house, there is no room for error. Too short is a waste of materials and too long is a waste of time. You have to be right the first time you cut. Therefore, you should always measure twice before you cut the board. The plans tell you how long something is supposed to be. You measure and make your cut mark. But even the best of us make mistakes. Maybe we mark wrong. Maybe we read the plan wrong. Maybe we read the tape measure wrong. The carpenter taught me that before you cut that board, double-check to make sure that everything is right. Sometimes you don’t get a second chance.

  In life, time is the boards that we use to build our houses. We cut many boards to put our houses together. Our lives are full of decisions that we make day in and day out. Draw a line and cut — too short so we have to throw the board away, it no longer fits. Draw a line and cut — too long so we have to tear it out and re-measure to cut again. Oh, the number of boards (hours) I have wasted because I did not take the time to measure twice to make sure that my board was going to fit into what I was building. Oh, the time that I have had to take to re-measure and re-measure and re-measure. I have built entire walls in my life that were not cut right and thus had to be tore out and started over. All this wasted time and wasted resources that I can never get back.

  I have spent time doing many things that didn’t contribute to what I really wanted to build. I think about the time I have wasted by being up to my eyeballs in debt, time that I could have been saving and investing the talents that God gave me. I think about the time I chose to spend on selfish ambition that I could have spent with my family. I think about the time that I spent on mindless computer games and television programs that I could have used to invest in my children or in other relationships. I think about the time that I could have used getting to know my God better. I just cut my
boards without thinking twice about whether I was cutting at the right place.

  Being careful about where we cut our time is absolutely essential. Jesus calls it "counting the cost."

  "Which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to make fun of him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’"

  Luke 14:28-30

  When we choose each and every day of our lives where we’re going to spend our time, we are making a cut on a board of life. If we cut too many boards short and have to throw them away (waste), we will not have enough boards to finish what we are building. Then the onlookers will make fun of us and say, "This man tried to build a great marriage but look, he wasn’t able to finish." Or maybe we will hear, "Look at this man’s kids! He wanted to build a great family but he didn’t have enough time to finish!"

  Are we truly calculating the costs of our decisions to our lives and to others? Are we cutting at the right places or do we have piles of boards in our lives that we cut too short? Are there boards that we have cut a dozen or two dozen times because each time we are cutting them too long and not hitting the mark? Maybe the reason our boards will not fit is because we are not measuring carefully to make sure that we are following the Master’s Plan.

  We must become people who measure correctly and cut right the first time. We only get one shot at this game called life, one chance to build the tower. When we take our last breath, whether that be today or 70 years from today, that is it. We must become finishers and not just starters. Let us count the costs on the whole job and make sure we are using our resources (time) wisely. We must measure twice to make sure that our cuts are where they are supposed to be. There is a time coming when what we are building is going to be measured and judged. "For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Luke 6:38) How will your cuts measure up?

  How are you doing measuring your time in the following areas? Are the boards you are building these areas with just right or have you cut too short? If too short, what are you going to change to make sure that you are cutting where you need to cut? What of the following areas need special attention in your life?

  Practical Application:

  Relationship with God (How often has God gotten the short board in your life? Is the time you are spending with God cut to a length that is allowing you to have a strong, growing, vibrant relationship? What do you need to do differently?)

  Your marriage (How often does your spouse get a board cut too short to build a great marriage? Are you spending enough time on this area or have you sacrificed it to other things in your life?)

  Your family (Are you carefully measuring the time you are investing in your family? How are you doing giving them quality and quantity time?)

  Your Health (Are you giving adequate time to this area to maintain a healthy body and lifestyle? How are you cutting short boards here?)

  Lesson 4 - While It was Still Dark

  When I was little, I liked to sleep. I will be honest with you; it was one of my favorite things to do. Yet when I was helping Richard, sleep just did not seem to be in his vocabulary. Sometimes it would seem like I had just laid my head on the pillow when he would be coming through the house singing like the happiest man alive. Getting up before daylight seemed to make the man happy for some reason that I could never fathom. Or maybe he found some joy in waking up those of us who liked to sleep. At that time, I just thought the man a little odd. In this modern age, whoever heard of eating breakfast while it was still dark and watching the sun come up at the job site? Was not brunch instituted for the sleep lover in us all?

  I remember getting to one particular job site really early on a cold winter morning. School must have got called off because of snow, yet here we were at some house in the middle of nowhere. I was sitting in the cab of the truck sipping on hot chocolate and trying to soak up all the heat coming out of the truck’s heater. But outside the truck in the cold and dark was the carpenter. He was sitting up the sawhorses and getting out the tools so he would be ready to start working as soon as it was light enough to see.

  We would work all day some days, not calling it quits until the sun sat and nighttime made it too dark to see. On some of those summer days, it would seem like we worked 15 hours a day! Oh yea, I guess we did. But some of the things that I have seen happen in those hours are simply mind boggling. I have seen houses go from foundation to under roof in one day. I have seen houses that were merely frames be completely covered with siding in one day. I have become amazed at what people can accomplish when they put their minds to it and work hard. That "hard work" seems to be the key!

  Those days that we accomplished the most were not days when we started at 10 a.m. or noon. They were days when we sacrificed to get up before the sun and get ready. There are things that you do to prepare for those great days that need to be done before you start. We could have waited until the sun came up to start getting ready. We could have waited to eat breakfast and drive to the job in the daylight hours. But if we had waited, by the time we had done all the prep work we would have wasted much valuable daylight.

  I have found that nothing great is accomplished in life without sacrifice. Those sacrifices take many forms; sleep being just one of them. Some take money, some take time. There are some things that require you to sacrifice energy. Or perhaps you must sacrifice the things that you want to do in order to do the things you do not really want to do but which you know must be done. There are even some things for which you must sacrifice your very self.

  Then He (Jesus) said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it."

  Luke 9:23-24

  If I want a great marriage, I have to sacrifice something. If I want a wonderful family, I must sacrifice. If I want a great relationship with God, I must sacrifice. Yet sacrifice of self is not easy and it is something that few people are willing to do. The man that will wake up before the sun comes up to get ready for the day is rare. Yet even Jesus did this to prepare himself for the day. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He (Jesus) got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there." Mark 1:35

  What a great example Jesus set for us to imitate, not just in our spiritual walks but in all other areas of life as well. We are all lazy in some area of our lives. Yet the warnings against laziness are easy to find in scripture.

  Here is one:

  I went by a field of a slacker,

  and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense.

  thistles had come up everywhere,

  weeds covered the ground,

  and the stone wall was ruined.

  I saw, and took it to heart;

  I looked,

  and received instruction:

  a little sleep, a little slumber,

  a little folding of the arms to rest,

  and your poverty will come like a robber,

  your need, like a bandit.

  Proverbs 24:30-34

  In some of our lives there are thistles and weeds and ruined walls. Our spiritual lives look like the slacker’s field. So do some of our marriages. And our careers. And our relationships with our kids or our co-workers. In some of these areas, we have been resting for way too long and they are in ruin. Unfold the arms and get to work before the bandit robs you!

  I still like to sleep, although I do not do it much anymore. I am not a morning person, just ask my wife. But one thing I have learned is that no good thing comes to a lazy person. Work hard at all you do and strive to imitate the carpenter. Are you ready when the day begins? Have you prepared yourself to start whatever building job you are undertaking? You only have a limited amount of day to build, are you prayed up and armored up
for the tasks at hand?

  Take some time to evaluate your morning routines and your work habits. Are there things that you need to change? Write them down below and make some decisions that will help you get ready for the day. There are few feelings in the world that match the thrill of ending a day that started before sunrise and saw you accomplish things you thought humanly impossible. How often have you felt that thrill?