atthew 6:25, “Though the
rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that
house, it won’t collapse because it is
built on bedrock.”
Are any of you board-game players?
When I was growing up, I loved to play the
board-game called “LIFE”. You got your little car
and your tiny, plastic person to sit in the driver’s
seat. You could choose to go to college, but
that required starting off in debt; or, you could
choose to take the other road, not start off in
debt, but also not get to choose two of the highest paying careers. As you drive your plastic car
along the board, you hit stop signs that say “Get
Married”, “Buy a House” and so on.
I haven’t played this game in quite some time,
but the other day, God reminded me of it when
it came to the pictures of the houses I could
choose from.
The most expensive house was a mansion. It was
pink and purple which made it look like a barbie
house, but nonetheless, it was still a mansion.
Then, there was the least expensive house. It
was a “fixer-upper” to say the least. Lightning
seemed to have struck this house (more like a
mobile home) and it was split in half.
You may be wondering, “Where on earth are you
going with this?” Hang in there. I have a point.
As I thought about this game and the choices
of houses I could pick from, I thought about the
kind of guys that I tend to choose as prospects in
my real life.
This thought came to mind. “Taylor, you
have a tendency to choose the guys that
are ‘fixer-uppers’ rather than choosing
the guys God has already been working
on Himself.”
I don’t look at guys and see them where they’re
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at today. I recognize where they’re at, but I see
them and think, “They have the potential to be
amazing men of God.”
Yes, everyone has potential! That house that is
split in two can be rebuilt. It can be whole again.
However, when it comes to people (especially
people we are considering marrying), we need to
realize that whether they are made whole again
isn’t up to us. That’s between them and God. It’s
true they have the potential to be on fire for God
and an amazing spouse, but will they be? Where
they’re at today is something we need to pay attention to and ask,
“Am I interested in who they ARE or who
they CAN BE?”
Going back to the house illustration, God’s given
me a lot of comparisons. I believe the main one
He caused me to think of was the foundation.
The foundation of a house is the most important
thing to consider. If the foundation is good, the
house can stand through storms. However, if
the house is built on a bad foundation, it will fall.
Jesus talks about this concept in
Matthew 7:24-27.
“Anyone who listens to my teaching
and follows it is wise, like a person who
builds a house on solid rock. Though the
rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that
house, it won’t collapse because it is
built on bedrock. But anyone who hears
my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on
sand. When the rains and floods come
and the winds beat against that house,
it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Marriage isn’t easy! Storms are going to come.
The foundation that a marriage is built on will
determine whether that house can stand or will
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