Foundation Stones

If you have ever been around the block of life a time or two, you probably have something, or someone, who helped you build the foundation of “life as I see it.”

I remember Zig Ziglar from his positive approach to life, leadership, and commitment to a better way of living. Some of his books and audio files are in my library and I dust them off and enjoy their sage advice. I still follow tweets that are focused on his summary of life. His way of speaking is something I remember from auditoriums where he is presenting his message, and I sit enthralled at his style and delivery.

Zig passed away in 2012, but not before I made it to the Key Arena with some friends to listen to him and his entourage speak positive thoughts and actions into a crowd of thousands.

His voice may be gone, but his son, Tom, follows in his footsteps and posts regular messages from his dad’s archive, but he also builds forward on the foundation begun by a man who was interested in improving our options of life.

Think about this for a moment. Do we not all grow up with some foundation that includes characteristics like this? Honesty. Character. Integrity. Faith. Love. Loyalty. Each one is a valuable commodity to spend generously everywhere we go, and in everything we do. Each one builds a strong person that can live forward into the life they are making for themselves.

Foundations

Several times now, I’ve been to Israel and each time I go beneath the outer Western Wall I am deep in thought when I consider the foundation of the temple in Jerusalem. The strength those long and massive rock beams portray to those of us walking beneath the Western Wall. Not just the blocks of stone that are visible above ground, who, like an iceberg, only hint at the strength that must exist under the surface, buried deep in the bedrock, giving strength and stability to the generation of stacked blocks above.

I think about my fore-bearers who have laid a foundation for the country, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I think about God who built the foundation of all life and the building blocks that are so minuscule you need special equipment just to know that DNA exists, and I am sure there is more there than we just have not yet found.

Then my mind roamed to the story of Israel finally leaving the wilderness and entering into the promised land. First, they had to cross the Jordan River. I’ve seen the signs where the flood stage marked the wall of the entry point between Israel and Jordan. A good 20 feet higher than this picture, it must have spread an impressive distance as it left the banks of normality.

How do you commemorate the life you are leaving, and the times you are approaching? You build a memorial.

“Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, …. ” ~(Joshua 4:4-7 KJV)

What Are Your Foundations Stones?

You need to know what your foundation is built upon.

“Then ye shall answer them… “

Two divergent thoughts pop into my thinking world. First: Do I have an answer? Second: Do the Words speak of my foundation succinctly?

Stones we build our lives upon require us to have an answer as to their meaning. Without teaching and training, we do not simply “know” the definitions of such words. Without a good definition, and the teaching behind them, then they are simply words that have little meaning.

Speak these words to yourself. Think about what they represent. Consider how you can share them outward to the next generation, and to those who are looking for someone they can trust.

Honesty. Character. Integrity. Faith. Love. Loyalty.

These never come into question, when we learn them, use them, live them before everyone, and then teach them to the next generation that follows. Because our children will ask…. And we better have a good answer! When we build our lives on stones of high quality, then the life we end up pursuing will be a life of high quality.