Walking with the Wise #193: Home Sweet Home

“The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,
but the righteous finds refuge in his death.”
—Proverbs 14:32

Imagine for a moment two men who both are building houses. The first man uses his own plans he created from some plans his friends had made and some that he heard about in college. He rushes his house, doesn’t dig a foundation, slaps it up quickly, uses poor materials and refuses to make it safe and secure. He completes his house first, and although it looks good, it’s shaky. That doesn’t matter to him, however, simply because he got it done, and it looks good, at least from the outside.

The second man uses some very old plans that he knows several have used over time. They are hard to read, but he takes his time, careful to dig the foundation deep, making sure that the house will be secure. He learns as he goes, correcting mistakes when he sees them. He takes four or five times as long as the first man, but when the house is done, it’s beautiful inside and out. It’s safe and secure, able to withstand extreme temperature, and provides immense comfort and joy for him and his family.

Before the second man’s house is even completed, the first man’s house begins to leak, the house begins to sink, and when a tornado comes his house falls down, even before the second man’s house is completed. Nevertheless, the second man’s house was also hit by the tornado, and even though his house wasn’t completed, it was built so strong that it was able to withstand the tornado’s fiercest and awful winds.

Everyone is building some kind of house—the question is what kind of house are we building? And how are we building it? Living for self is like creating your own architectural plans. You may try all you want, but the storm is going to prove the reality of your plans. And when God lays out how to build a spiritual house through His Word, we know that, if we follow that plan, we are building something that will last—that will endure the greatest and most powerful storms of life.

Living for Christ is like building our own spiritual house, which means that we are preparing ourselves not only for this world, but for the one to come. As the Bible says,

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come”—1 Timothy 4:7-8.

The wicked are not able to prepare themselves for death and will find themselves overthrown by all of the evil things they have done. As the Bible says,

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life”—Galatians 6:7-8.

When the wicked die, there is no eternal dwelling; it will be as Jesus said:

“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”—Matthew 13:49-50.

There will be weeping, gnashing of teeth, and overwhelming, terrifying sorrow. The righteous, to the contrary, will experience the joy of the Lord. They will have constructed spiritual dwellings by all of their years of nourishing the Spirit within them.

What kind of home are you creating? Are you creating one that will fall apart when the storms come? Or are you creating a home that brings life—to you and to those with whom you come into contact? Let God be God, live for Him, and remember that God is not mocked. We reap what we sow, and no matter what happens in the here and now, everything will be revealed for what it truly is in the there and then. Amen.