Sand

From: Echoes of Grace: 1973

• 2 min. read • grade level: 4

I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore. Gen. 22: 17.

Heavier than the sand of the sea. Job 6:3³For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up. (Job 6:3).

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. Psa. 139:17, 18¹⁷How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! ¹⁸If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. (Psalm 139:17‑18).

A foolish man... built his house upon the sand. Matt. 7:26²⁶And 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: (Matthew 7:26).

A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. Prov. 27:3³A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. (Proverbs 27:3).

I stood upon the sand of the sea. Rev. 13:1¹And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (Revelation 13:1).

Fear ye not Me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at My presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not pass over it? Jer. 5:22²²Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? (Jeremiah 5:22).

Sand is indeed very useful for many purposes, but it is insecure as a foundation. No one would ever build for himself a home upon the shifting sand of the seashore.

The Lord Jesus tells of a "foolish" man who once built for himself a house, and chose the sand for a foundation. So long as fine weather lasted the house stood very well, and possibly looked very nice. But by and by a storm began to rage. The winds began to blow, the angry waves to beat against the house, and down it fell. "The fall of that house was great."

Sand is a poor foundation.

There was once a great lighthouse. It was said to have been a splendid building; but the foundation was insecure. One stormy night it began to totter, and nothing now remains but a heap of stones. It was built upon a poor foundation.

Another man also built a house for himself. He built it upon a rock. The stormy winds and waves beat hard against it, but it stood. The rock withstood the storm, and the house was firm and sure. It has withstood the wintry blast for years, and the reason is plain: it is built upon a rock.

Friend, you too are building. Are you building on the sands of time, or do you know of the Rock that will endure for all eternity? Are your hopes of present and eternal bliss founded upon that Rock? That Rock is Christ. He is a sure foundation, the Rock of ages, the same yesterday, today and forever. If that Rock—Jesus Christ—is your foundation, you can say:

"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood— God's righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' Name.
"On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand."

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