How's Your House, Jack?

As children, lots of us who grew in the United States or England (possibly others areas as well) grew up with nursery rhymes. We either had them read to us or we read them ourselves when we were in grade school. Honestly, a lot of them I don't completely understand, they were just rhymes, poems or songs that I learned as child.

Having four children, Sharon and I have passed some of these nursery rhymes down to our children. Since Sharon was the home school teacher for all of our children at least through the sixth grade, I guarantee you that our kids were exposed to some of these nursery rhymes too.

Today, during our worship time at the Orla Sul Baptist Church (Leblon-Rio de Janeiro), our Minister of Music, Fabiano, shared with us a verse that most of us also know and grew up with, Psalm 127:1

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain. " (NIV)

This got my ole' brain to thinking. I started wondering about what do I use to "build" my house? What type of a foundation do I have? What are the walls made of? Did I use quality products or did I try to cut corners? Would the Lord be pleased with the house that I have built, or would He be ashamed of the lack of craftsmanship, time and effort that I have put into the house that I've built for the Lord?

OK, so my analogy is a bit thin here, but hear me out. I started thinking about what do I use to "build" my house? For example, is my foundation built on (1) the Word of God (the Bible) or on the superficial material that the world has to offer; (2) is it built on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or on my attempt to be a religious person; (3) is it built on salvation through grace, that is that there is NOTHING that I can do to earn or deserve God's favor or love for me or do think that somehow I've earned or deserve God's love through my attempts of good works or being a good person; (4) is it built on faith alone that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior or through or do I somehow think that my intellectual understanding of God and religion is enough; (5) is it built on traditions that are comfortable because I'm used to them or maybe it's the way that I do "church" but it's not necessarily biblical or based on a the truth of God's Word; (6) is it built on my trying to rush through a five minute "hurry up, I'm busy" quiet time with God, or am I enjoying my daily Bible reading and prayer time with Him? What have I been using to build my house? How about you?

Just some food for thought!

Hey, if no one has told you today that they love you, remember that Jesus loves you and that you are very special to Him.

Until next time.

Jeff Renard - Rio

(Note: for a good site on nursery rhymes and their histories, go to http://www.zelo.com/family/nursery/)

"This is the house that Jack built"

This is the cat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the
crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn,
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the farmer sowing the corn,
That kept the the cock that crowed in the morn,
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.