Last week saw us manage an early morning walk on Holy Isle. Crossing the vast sandy causeway early, the sea was a long way in the distance. By the time we came back over the causeway, though there was still a good half hour of safe crossing time left, the sea was close by and making rapid ground. But being down by the sea reminded us of so many times with children and grandchildren when we’ve gone to the beach. There are few things more entertaining for small children (and adults!) than sand and water. The delight of building sandcastles and waiting for the tide to come in and knock them down again, never fails.
As we progress through the forty days of Lent, we remember that in those forty days Jesus learned to set aside all temptation to trust in anything but God. It became part of his teaching in Matthew 7, that the only secure way to build our lives was to trust only in the God we know in Jesus. Everything else is like building on the sand - the tides of life come sweeping in and wash away everything we have created. Watching our castles collapse is fun on the beach, but for the rest of life, we try to build on the secure foundation of trust in God.
Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” (Matt 7; 24 – 27)
Blessings, Anne