The Pulpit Speaks: September 27, 1958

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.

“And every one that heareth these words and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand; and the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it.” — Matthew 7:24-25

How tragic it is that a non-thinking man would build his house upon the sand. Sand is the subject of every ill wind and every raging wave. Yet it is true that many men are thoughtless or indifferent to the point that they make no more plans for a secure future than to build upon sand. Sand may be any of those things that are easily moved and change values from day to day.

The man who built his house upon the sand never took into consideration that storms and adversities would come that way and the house would be tested at every point for survival. Not only is it necessary for one to build a house upon a solid foundation but it is also important that one should build a like upon these elements that will enable one to withstand all of the adversities that one is called upon to endure.

Many lives fold up in these trying days because somewhere down the line, the material that has gone into the building of a strong foundation has been withheld. The man who is unconcerned to the point that he will build upon a poor foundation or put things into a life that will not stand the tests of time can expect no more than to get somewhere down the line and see his most cherished dreams fall into a pile of debris.

Life is so made up that one must, out of necessity. mold it of those things that are lasting and worthwhile. By the same token, one must build life upon those things that will last.

This saying comes after Jesus’ talks to His hearers about truths that will make them worthwhile and confident citizens. This can never be realized unless the better things in life are out into one’s life. Time and time again I hear anxious parents wondering why their children did not grow up and be like other children. This question will have to be answered by another: did you put into your child what that other person put into his? Many times, therein lies the answer to our dilemmas. What a terrible, distraught man that man must have been to come home after a storm only to find his house had fallen! But on second thought, was not the falling of the house a making of his own choice? Are not many of our failures traceable to the choices we have made in previous years?

I think that if we were honest, we would say just that. How many times in our personal lives we choose to take the short cuts rather than do the hard work necessary for a good job only to learn that the little short cut we took stares us in the face later on?

Let us say, for the sake of argument, that this man could easily have built his house upon a good, solid foundation but would have had to cut down a few trees and clear some bushes. Rather than this, he chose a clear but sandy spot upon which to build his house. Had he chosen the former place, his house would have lasted for many years through many storms. Any house worth putting up is worth putting up right. The tendency of so many people to want to take short cuts is pathetic. Yet this was nothing new to Jesus. He knew that men would be wanting to take short cuts so he likened those short cuts to people who would build houses upon sandy foundations. For foundations to have lasting value they must be built on a solid foundation with a cohesiveness that will be able to support the building.

The life designed by a person must be of such nature that it will be able to support any stand that a person may take in life.

Like structures, the building of lasting lives must be upon those things that will not change with the passing of time. There must be virtue in each of our lives that will make us strive only after those things that will give us stature and worthwhileness in this life. This cannot be realized by building upon a series of short cuts. The challenge which lies before each of us now is a challenge of dedication that will enable us to strive for those things that are lasting and worthwhile.

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