The Russian city of Berezniki has a problem. It’s 150,000 citizens are watching their city sink.
The city sits on top of a potash mine held up by walls and pillars of salt. It worked for years. Then, in 2006, a spring burst forth and flowed through the underground mine. The water dissolved the salt, and parts of the city fell into the earth.
Locals named the most massive sinkhole “Grandfather.” It is 1300 feet across and 650 deep.
Some have left the town. Others wonder what will happen.
Something happens when cities and lives build on dangerous things. People make lives on philosophies, wealth, importance, and fads. None ask, “how is this supporting my life in eternity?”
Yet, these are shifting ground. People disappoint. Money disappears. Philosophies dissolve.
Jesus reminds us of a problem that many have. He tells a story of two men whose end proved their building.
“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.”(Matthew 7:24–27)
Appearances can fool. What looks like a stable life can crumble when the foundation is shallow. But built on a foundation of eternity and truth, people can stand any force. The ground remains under them when times change.
Ask yourself, “what’s holding up my life?” If it is not rock-solid faith, prepare for life’s sinkholes.
-Robert G. Taylor-
