Luke 6:46-48 (NKJV) “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 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.”
To be resilient means being able to bounce back despite repeated setbacks in life. For a physical object to bounce back, it needs to have a firm base. Similarly, for a Christian to be resilient, a solid foundation in the Word is a must.
Natural disasters can often give us a glimpse of what Jesus meant when He urged us to build a strong foundation in the above opening Scripture. News reports show us that floods can come suddenly, leaving many stranded and needing to be evacuated by helicopters. Houses without firm foundations can be quickly swept away due to the force of the floods that come upon them. Although most governments have talked about building early warning systems, including those that detect tsunamis in order to protect lives, natural disasters still manage to catch people off guard.
As Christians, we have a warning system in Jesus. He urges us to build a solid foundation in Him before the floods come to beat vehemently upon our lives. Jesus did not say if the floods would come but when, which means they would definitely come—it is just a matter of time.
If we want to be resilient, we need to do what Jesus has taught us—to listen, read and learn from Scripture, because it is the Word that gives us a strong foundation. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, but the retention rate is very much dependent on the condition of our hearts. If our hearts are right, the effect of God’s Word can multiply up to a hundredfold in our lives, which is why the enemy is quick to steal it by bringing tribulation and adversity our way to stop the Word from taking root in our hearts and enabling us to establish a strong foundation. We must also remember that faith requires a corresponding action; God wants us to live and walk out every aspect of our Christian faith, all that which we believe in our hearts.
Doing what Jesus says also includes living a consecrated and sanctified life through aligning our lives with the Word of God, and this is something that we will have to keep working at until we pass on to glory. Finally, we need to be connected with God; apart from Him, we can do nothing that would make us resilient.
Sermon Series: Resilience (Part 2)
留意你的天气警报系统
路加福音6:46-48 你们为什么称呼我『主啊，主啊』却不遵我的话行呢？47凡到我这里来，听见我的话就去行的，我要告诉你们他像什么人：他像一个人盖房子，深深地挖地，把根基安在磐石上；到发大水的时候，水冲那房子，房子总不能摇动，因为根基立在磐石上。
坚韧意味着即使在生活中屡遭挫折也能重新振作起来。一件物体要反弹，它需要有一个坚实的根基。同样，基督徒要有韧性，他必需在神的话语里有坚实的根基。
耶稣在开头的经文中力劝我们建立坚实的根基，祂常常用自然灾害作比喻从而能让我们一瞥祂的心意。新闻报道显示，洪水可能会突然来临，许多人被困，需要直升机疏散。没有坚实地基的房屋会因为洪水的冲击而很快被冲走。尽管大多数政府都在讨论建立早期预警系统，包括探测海啸的预警系统以保护性命，但自然灾害仍然让人们措手不及。
作为基督徒，我们在耶稣里有一个警报系统。祂力劝我们在洪水猛烈攻击我们的生命之前，在祂里面建立坚实的根基。耶稣没有说洪水会不会来，而是说什么时候来，这意味着洪水肯定会来，这只是时间问题。
如果我们想要有韧性（反弹力），我们需要做到耶稣所教导的。聆听、阅读和学习圣经，因为它能帮助我们建立一个坚实的根基。信心来自聆听神的话语，但保留很大程度上取决于我们内心的状况。如果我们的心是对的，神话语对我们生命的影响力就能百倍地增长，这就是为什么敌人通过苦难和逆境来阻止神的话语在我们心中快速扎根，试图拦阻我们建立坚固的根基。我们还必须记住，信心需要相应的行动；神要我们活出基督徒信仰的每一个层面，用实际行动活出我们的信仰。
行出耶稣所教导的还包括藉着使我们的生命与神的话语一致而活出分别为圣和成圣的生命，这是我们必须持续努力的事情，直到我们进入荣耀。最后，我们需要与神连接；离开了祂，没有任何事情能让我们变得坚韧。
讲章系列: 韧性 (第二部分)