One of my favorite parables, from the greatest teacher in the history of the world, illustrates the importance of being grounded on the word of God. In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Have you noticed how many people in our society are tossed to and fro by the waves of public opinion? This is one reason I believe we see so much flag-waving these days. The groups that want to manipulate opinion to support their cause have adopted a strategy of virtue signaling by literally waving flags, wearing t-shirts, and handing out bumper stickers. These symbols are like waves of opinion that the observant masses show a remarkable willingness to respond to.
This is to be expected when individuals have so little Biblical grounding for the opinions and ideas they hold. How can someone be confident to make a moral judgment on issues like gender, immigration, life in the womb, and economic sanctions if they have no belief in a universal definition of right and wrong, or male and female? How can they stand firm when their worldview is not built upon the rock of the truth of God’s word?
At some point there comes the realization that moral convictions hold to a system that has either been created by imperfect humans or by a perfect God. Jesus only gave two illustrations for someone’s worldview because he knew there are only two options, a person will either submit to the word of God or they will try to build their life upon the word of some man or woman.
The Ten Commandments are an excellent example of a moral system that was instituted by God. Moses did not invent the legal framework for the Jewish people. It was given to him directly from God. The Ten Commandments give a rock-solid foundation for morality because they came from outside of humanity. Christians know human life is precious not because someone is bigger or more beautiful than someone else. No, human life is precious because men and women are made in the image of God. Those who do not believe they are made in the image of God will continually change their justification for protecting certain people because their guidelines for right and wrong are man-made and thus can change depending on which human they listen to. Those who have a foundation built upon the word of God will stand firm in the midst of tumultuous times because the principles in Scripture are timeless and true.
