The Rock
By: Kristen L. McNulty
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Ever since I was very young, I've spent a good deal of my time at my aunts cottage during my summers. In fact, a large portion of this book was written during weekends spent out there. The cottage is set on top of a hill, overlooking a picturesque lake that branches out and leads into another.
As a youngster I found much pleasure in investigating the shoreline of the lake. It seems as though every year the water level is different, either washing away what was once there, or revealing new treasures in the shore that was once a lake bottom. And while every year the lake looks slightly different from the fluctuating level of the water, one thing has never been changed or washed away. And that is the large rock that is located on the East side of the lake.
The rock is about five feet in diameter and roughly four feet high. And no matter how much water covers the rock or reseeds away from it, that rock stays the same. The waves can crash, the water can freeze, but that rock is still in place over twenty years later; strong and immovable.
Seeing the strength and unchanging nature of this rock year after year reminds me of the strength and consistency that we find in Jesus Christ. In the book of Matthew, Jesus and Peter have an encounter that leads Jesus to refer to Himself as "petra" in the original text. Translated, petra means a solid rock. Not a pebble, not a stone, not something that can be easily picked up and tossed away. But rather an unmovable and unshakeable rock doesn't weather over time or get blown away with the storm.
The same rock that is the foundation of faith and hopefully our very lives.
Why is this important to think about? Well we live in an ever changing world. Things that were yesterday often are different today and there is a great deal of instability out there. But in Jesus we have been promised Someone who stays the same yesterday, today, and forever. And when we allow our lives to be built on His name, we're given a solid foundation. Something that doesn't get washed away in the storms of life or wither away with the passing of time. Instead what is built on The Rock grows and withstands the turbulence of life.
But Jesus doesn't force us to build our lives on His foundation. No, He's left us with the choice. We can place everything in our lives on a foundation of sand, wood, or whatever other scraps we can find in this world, but His foundation is the only one that lasts. The choice is up to us though. Will we continue to labour through this life in vain? Or learn to trust petra? The only solid foundation that can be found?
This devotional was aired as a part of the Making A Difference Christian Radio Show.