There was once a man whom the Lord Jesus called “foolish.” What did he do that was wrong? Nothing illegal, nothing sinful, nothing really wrong, but he was foolish nonetheless: He built his house on the sand! Children in Sunday school sometimes sing a little song:
“The foolish man built his house upon the sand-
And the rains came down and the floods came up-
And the house on the sand fell FLAT!”
Yes, any child could have told what would happen! But the city planners, the civil engineers, the developers and politicians all got together and announced that they had a wonderful plan. They were going to build a new “wonder of the world.”
It would be a marvel of engineering, and it would solve much of the traffic problems in the rapidly growing city. It would be an elevated, reversible bridge over the interstate highway into the rapidly growing, traffic-clogged city.
The work proceeded well. About half the huge supporting pillars were in place, and the planners were ready to take the credit and to say, “We knew that we could do it!”
Then what happened? One of the massive piers quietly sank-sank eleven feet into the ground. Dismay and consternation! Then a rush of questioning and testing and drilling. What did they find?
The foundations for the great supporting piers for the bridge were buried between 65 and 75 feet underground-buried deep in Florida sand. Almost every pier would need reinforcing; some would have to go 25 to 35 feet deeper to rest upon enough limestone to (hopefully) support the enormous weight of the pier itself, the bridge and the heavy traffic. Sand was not a sound foundation.
Many of us are building our bridges on doubtful foundations. We expect to cross safely from this world into heaven on a bridge based on our own excellent character, our kindness, goodness, education, even wealth and charitable gifts. How terrible it will be to find the sand sinking!
The repairs to the expressway are now estimated at more than $120 million, but what amount of money can pay for salvation for a lost soul? The Lord Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
The cost is beyond imagining, but every day men, women, and even children, risk their eternal salvation for just a little pleasure or prestige or just a bit more money. Soon that sand will sink, and all that has been spent on unsafe bridges will sink with it.
There is only one sure foundation to build on for the eternal future, and it is not one of our building at all! “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (l Corinthians 3:11).