26 Sep
Rock and Roll…
I was having one of those days where I couldn’t seem to stay awake. After class I went out to my car and started driving home. I knew I needed either a strong caffeinated beverage or a nap to survive the rest of the day. I checked my car’s ash tray for money, but was greeted only by cobwebs and tumbleweeds, so decided on option B. The drive home only takes five minutes, but today it seemed like an eternity. All I could think about was sleep…blissful sleep. When I finally pulled up to the apartment complex, beautiful thoughts were beginning to fill my head: Thoughts of my soft pillow; thoughts of my quiet room; thoughts of the giant rock right in front of me. GIANT ROCK?! I snapped out of my day-dream, but not fast enough. My car snuck off the road and smashed into the decorative rock at the entrance of the parking lot. Sheepishly, I gathered my wits (now more awake than I’ve ever been!) and glanced around, hoping no one had watched me. Several LARGE scratches now adorned my front bumper, just begging people to ask about their origins.
As I explained to the car mechanic about the giant lion that attacked my car (he didn’t buy it), I thought more about the incident. It was fascinating to me how one rock could do so much damage. It was much smaller than the car that hit it, and weighed less as well. However, when I hit that boulder, it didn’t move an inch! It was so solidly rooted in the ground where it lay that my car was not going to make it budge. Despite the $300 in damage to my car, I was impressed by that rock!
That incident made me think of my Christian life. So often I seem to seek unstable things as my foundations. I worry about having lots of friends, or being materially comfortable, or having influence or success. I try to build my life up with these at its base, but disaster always follows. Life can change in the blink of an eye. Watching Hurricane Ike on the news showed me that everything can be washed away like a sand castle on the beach. Worldly pursuits are unstable to build a life on because they are weak and temporary. It made me think of something Jesus said: “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” (Luke 6:27-48). In the aftermath of natural disasters like Hurricane Ike, it is a vital reminder that Jesus alone offers a firm foundation for life. I may try other things, but it’s only a matter of time until they are washed away.
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Filed in: Responding to God, Worship
About the Author
Mike Blackaby is a 22 year old student who plays guitar in a rock band, loves to snowboard, play hockey, and cheers for the Colorado Avalanche. He is terrified of spiders, but loves reading fantasy novels, watching movies, taking road trips, building camp fires, and will do any roller coaster if someone goes with him. You can contact him via Facebook.
Read more about Mike here.
