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It is absolutely vital for believers to have a solid understanding of why they are members of the Christian faith. Millions of people think they are part of the body of Christ, but they have no idea what it really means to be saved. I've known dozens of people who confessed to be Christians for a time, but who later simply wandered away from the flock. It is like their faith in God came with an expiration date.
We tend to view salvation as being a boundless commodity. Jesus warned that it is a finite resource with a limited time offer:
“Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:14).The key reason some people have no grasp of faith is that they never established a meaningful relationship with their Creator. True believers stand firm in both good and bad times because they have a firm foundation for their faith. Carnal Christians will blow away when adversity comes or even when the Christian experience becomes boring to them.
In June of 2008, I got a first-hand look at the importance of having a good foundation of support. On a Saturday afternoon, severe thunderstorms came roaring through my area with 90 mph gusts. The force of the wind blew down two huge spruce trees in my front yard. After the storm, I was amazed to see that a group of cottonwood trees, which were twice as tall as my spruce trees, had suffered little damage. While surveying the mess, I realized why my spruce trees had fallen and the cottonwoods had remained standing: the tree's root system. Spruces are big and broad, but they have very shallow roots. Cottonwoods endure the wind because they have deep roots. In fact, I later learned that nurseries warn people not to plant cottonwoods too close to houses because their aggressive root systems can get into sewer lines.
There is a mirror reflection of my tree experience in Luke 6:47:
“Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”
