Water That Concrete

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he move to Texas brought with it many challenges, several surprises, and more than one eye-opening experience, not the least of which was looking on in shock and disbelief as people watered the foundations of their houses!  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but sure enough, in yard after yard, and from one house to another, various forms of soaking the concrete slabs supporting the houses were on display.

           

Now there is good reason for this.  In the summer months, Texas experiences very high temperatures.  My first full summer here, in 1998, saw temperatures reach 115+ in July.  When the temperature is this high and there is no rain in the forecast, or in the sky for that matter, the ground will naturally contract and crack.  This contraction will pull the dirt away from the foundation of a house, leaving large gaps between the earth and the concrete. This is not a good scenario because it leads to sinking and settling of the house’s foundation which can cause all types of structural problems.

In order to protect their homes and to prevent serious damage, the good people of Texas water their concrete slabs.  Actually, they keep the earth around the slab wet so it will not shift, contract, buckle, or pull away from the foundation.  The water that could be spent nourishing the lawn is instead applied to the foundation of the house, for if the foundation goes, so does everything built on top of it!

The application of this truth to the life of the believer is not very difficult to make.  The Scriptures speak very clearly about the importance of maintaining a solid foundation built on Jesus Christ.  Jesus himself illustrated this principle in the parable of the two houses that had radically different foundations.

But sometimes it seems that even when we care for our foundations, bad things still happen.  A brief perusal of any daily newspaper will be enough to convince you that the world is not the safest footing on which to build a life.  All around us it appears that life as we know it is being shaken to its very foundations, leaving huge cracks and fissures in society’s supporting structures.

King David felt much the same way about the day in which he lived.  He looked around him and felt that the very foundations of his life were being shaken.  He reflects these thoughts in Psalm 11:3-5, “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.”

The opening statement of today’s passage may seem like a sigh of desperation and anguish of the soul.  Indeed, it is very perplexing at times to know you are squarely in the center of God’s will for your life and yet everything is falling apart around you.  On the other hand, those around you not concerned with spiritual matters seem to be plugging right along, enjoying the best life has to offer.  It can and does leave us frustrated beyond all measure, doesn’t it?

Yet, there is another way in which this entire Psalm can and should be read.  The footnote for this passage (please click on the link above and read the entire psalm) gives an alternate reading to be, “When the foundations are being destroyed, what is the Righteous One doing? The LORD, the Righteous One examines the wicked.”  What a different perspective this understanding lends to our reading today.  Please draw the encouragement intended here.  God is in complete control.  Nothing that happens in the world or to us personally escapes His attention and nothing takes Him by surprise.  God knows all about us and is well aware of everything touching our lives today, even when it seems He is nowhere to be found.

We need to commit the opening line of this psalm to memory and make it the bedrock of our walk with the Lord.  We must build our relationship with our Heavenly Father upon this foundation, a foundation we need to maintain and properly care for so our relationship with God is always solid with no cracks, buckles, or gaps.  Psalm 11:1 phrases it so well, “In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: "Flee like a bird to your mountain.” 

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or the Christian, we too must water our concrete and we must do it daily, rain or shine, hot or cold, morning or evening.  We water our foundation every time we read our Bible, meditate on God’s word, and hit our knees.  It is the only way to ensure we are constantly on a firm footing with God.  Have you watered your concrete today?