Huffed and Puffed Houses

“According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.”

1 Corinthians 3:10-14

“Little pig, little pig, let me in…”

“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin…”

I had an amusing first lesson with my new youth group this Sunday. I used the story of the “Three Little Pigs” to try and illustrate the above text, and our conversation about it was enlightening. My group comes from many different nationalities, so different versions of the story came out. In the French version, for example, the little pigs whose houses were built of straw and sticks, and, consequently, blown down, were actually eaten by the big bad wolf. In the much more humane American version (and, perhaps, less realistic), the little pigs were blown by the huff-and-puff of the wolf into the brick house of their wiser brother.

Regardless of the degree of barbeque involved, the point of the story remains relevant and biblical. It is important how you build. There is no foundation that can hold against the elements other than Christ. Once on that foundation, however, one must decide how they construct their house.

You may choose to build houses of straw or sticks. The first two pigs chose this route, as it took less time and effort. There were plenty of these weaker materials lying all about. They could throw some of them together and be lounging in their new living rooms in no time. It was certainly the quickest way to get four walls and a roof.

Yet the big bad wolf was coming. The easy and weak houses were not strong enough to stand when the adversity came against them, and they fell. Perhaps you also chose the convenience of building your house on straw and sticks. You neglected to get serious about God’s word. You determined that you didn’t need to go to church in order to live a Christian life. A vibrant prayer life is something you always said would happen “someday.” Consequently, in the place of bricks, gold, silver, and precious stones, you built your house with hay, wood, sticks, and straw. And perhaps, like the poor little pigs, your house has been blown to the ground.

The fire reveals the purity of the work and is capable of devouring the whole structure. Yet the foundation, if it is laid on the strong rock of Christ and not on the sinking sand, will never give way. If you are in a place today where you find nothing but that foundation; if you are standing in the open air looking at the fallen rubble of what was once your house of straw, then there is nothing left to do but rebuild. But be careful how you build! Every day we must decide the quality of materials with which we build our house. We must choose wisely, as there are always big bad wolves just around the corner ready to test the quality of our work.

The third little pig had no reason to fear the fangs of the wolf. The house he had built was ample protection…even in the French version of the story. So as with the house built with God’s word.

The wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house.