Articles
Digging Deep
At the end of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stressed the importance of acting on His teaching, not merely listening to it. He used two builders to make the point. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).
In Luke’s account, Jesus said the wise builder “is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock” (Luke 6:48). Consider the importance of digging deep.
Digging deep rules out following Jesus in a superficial way. Some are content to believe in Jesus in a broad sense while making no real commitment to living as He directs. Discipleship is not a surface-level acceptance of the Lord; it is yielding all in order to follow Him wherever He directs (Luke 14:25-33). It is a “deep” commitment.
Digging deep suggests the depth of our faith. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus likened some hearers’ hearts to shallow soil. The word readily produces a plant, but because there is no depth of soil (Mark 4:5) it withers amidst affliction or persecution (v. 17). Since faith comes by hearing God’s word (Romans 10:17), deeper faith can come only by digging more deeply into the word. “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity . . .” (Hebrews 6:1).
Digging deep also points to thorough repentance. In Jesus’ illustration, the builder digs deep in order to remove everything that is unsuitable. He clears away the dirt and debris to get to the solid rock. From there he can begin to build. We may need to do a lot of clearing in our hearts and lives, too. Erroneous beliefs, bad attitudes, and sinful habits lie between us and discipleship. They must all be removed, shovelful by shovelful. We must examine every corner of our hearts and lives in light of the gospel and make whatever changes it calls for.
Discipleship is work. Don’t take shortcuts. Dig deep.
