Silver Shell

Here's to another year of experience,the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun.lol
Today is a gift of life, age is all but a number.
Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs. xD

The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything.
- Oscar Wilde

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.
- Mark Twain

Matthew 7:24-29



Identical Elements

Though they are not given actual names, this parable has two distinct people doing the same activities. First, the tow main people are both builders. A closer look at the story reveals that Jesus isn't using houses and sand ans rock in a literal way, but in a figurative sense. He is talking about building a philosophy of life, establishing values, and making decisions that relate to life in general.
The second identical element is the life situation of each builder. Both face a storm of rain and wind and floods (v.25,27). Again the storm is to be taken not literally but metaphorically. Jesus isn't telling us how to storm proof our homes from Hurricane Hugo. He's telling us how to storm proof our lives. He's giving us blueprints for building lives that can withstand calamities He sees looming on the horizon of our future.


Contrasting Factors

Although both builders do the same work and face identical storms , there are some significant differences between them. The first builder "hears . . . and acts on" the Words of Jesus
(v.24), but the second, though he hears the same Words, "does not act on them"(v.26).
Interestingly, if we had seen the two buildings going up at the same time, we would have thought they were identical. But the test of the storm revealed their difference. You see, what's really important in life is not what we hear; it's what we do with what we hear.
The second contrast is in the ultimate outcomes of the two houses. The first builder's house "did not fall," even though the storm raged against it (v.25). Consequently, the builder is labeled as wise. However, the second builder's house not only fell, but "great was it fall" (v.27). As a result, its builder is classified as foolish.
It takes no theologian to realize that the rocklike foundation of the wise man's house was Christ Himself; that the builder had turned to Him in faith and actively built his life on Jesus' sure and eternal principles. The foolish man, however, disregarded Christ and constructed his life on the ever-shifting, ephemeral sands of this world's passing wisdom and self-way.


Underlying Principles

Two principles run through Jesus' parable like strong structural beam under the flooring of the house. First, If you're only hearing the truth, you're not prepared for life's storms. You can listen to typhoon warnings on the radio all you want and know what to do, unless you get up off your couch and do something, you're going to get blown away.
Second, If you're foundation is sure, no storm will cause your life to collapse. No matter how severe the storm, you can weather it if you've built your life on a firm foundation(Jesus Christ). Regardless of whether that storm is tragic accident, the death of a loved one, a sudden financial reversal, or an assault by an enemy, we can make it through the storm. When the rain stops and the sun parts the clouds, we'll be there, still standing.
It is building on the right foundation . . . the solid rock (Jesus Christ), rather than the sinking sands of a self-made life.
So now, it's time to ask ourselves a couple of soul-searching questions. The questions are not "Am I building?" or "will a storm hit my life someday?". Both of those answers are clear. We are building whether we know it or not. And a storm will hit whether we're ready or not....

Some Aeonflux..

There's a story about a group of scientists who decided that humans could do without God.
So one of them looked up to God and said, " We've decided that we no longer need You. We
have enough wisdom to clone people and do many miraculous things."
God listened patiently and then said, "Very well, let's have a man-making contest. We'll do
it just like I did back in the old days with Adam." The scientists agreed, and one of them
bent down and picked a handful of dirt. God looked at him and said, "No! You have to make
your own dirt!"

Source : Our Daily Bread 2006