Thoughts for the Day

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
it will not come to us;
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter’;
therefore thus says the Lord God,
See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation:
‘One who trusts will not panic.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We cannot build anything really without a foundation. We all know the children's story about the three pigs - the wolf "huffs and puffs" and he blows down the house made of straw, and similarly the house made of wood, but he cannot blow the house made of stone down. Or for that matter we can think of the house built on the rock and that built on the sand (Luke 6.48-50). Houses need good foundations if they are to last.

Similarly, faith in God needs proper foundations. Isaiah, writing from 742 BCE onwards is scornful of many of God's people. They believed death would not touch them because their covenant with God meant they would not see Sheol (the grave), and so God's judgement would not affect them. But Isaiah disabuses them of this idea.

Many people today take a similar view. They argue they're kind and loving to others, even if they don't go to church. Surely that's enough? Or perhaps they go to church regularly, but don't see the need to put that belief into practice in their life!

Isaiah says God will make a solid foundation for the lives of those who trust in Him. That foundation stone was to be the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He was was tested and proved to be a true foundation stone. A person who bases their life on His teaching will be straight and true, and can approach God without fear.

Jesus Christ,
You are the foundation of our faith,
the stone upon which we can rest in safety.
May we try to live a life worthy of Your sacrifice
according to the principles You established,
and may we learn to grow in faith along with all
who look to You as the Head of the Church,
so that we may approach the throne of God in grace,
and be welcomed into God's Heavenly Kingdom.
Amen.