I keep coming back to that parable in Matthew 7, the wise man who builds his house on rock, and the fool who builds his on sand. Same storm hits them both. Same rain, same wind. Only one house is still standing when it’s over.

For a long time I thought that story was about avoiding the storm. It isn’t. It’s about what’s underneath you when the storm comes, because it’s coming either way.

Lately, when I’m honest with myself about what my life is actually built on, the answer isn’t always Scripture. I know the readings. I own a Bible. But knowing where the rock is and actually standing on it turned out to be two very different things for me.

So today, quieter than usual, I’m just asking myself one question: what’s holding me up right now? Something I built by really opening the word, or something I’ve just been meaning to get to?

Lord, on the days the ground feels shaky under me, keep drawing me back to You. Give me five honest minutes with Your word today instead of another week of good intentions I never keep. Amen.

Today’s Bible Study

Today’s Gospel has Peter asking Jesus how many times he has to forgive someone. He offers seven, feeling generous. Jesus tells him seventy-seven times, in Matthew 18. I used to read that and focus on the math. Now I think it was never about a bigger number. It was about putting the ledger away completely.

There’s still one thing I haven’t fully let go of. You probably have one too. Jesus isn’t pretending it didn’t hurt. What He’s telling Peter, and me, is that mercy was handed to us first, long before we earned it, and it’s meant to move through us instead of stopping at us.

Recommended Reading

If you’re looking for something to go deeper with, I’ve been slowly working through Augustine’s Confessions, written in the late fourth century by a man who spent years running from the very faith he’d eventually give his life to. If you’ve ever drifted from the Church yourself, his honesty about that road might land closer to home than you’d expect.