One December night a few years ago, Carolyn and I carried three bags down from the attic. It was time to put up and decorate the tree. We had a little problem, though. The stand was missing. It was nowhere to be seen in the attic, the utility closet, or the storage shed in the back yard.

      Without a base that tree was not going to stand. We could have assembled its three main sections, plugged in the lights, and adorned its branches with ornaments. We even could have placed beautifully-wrapped packages on the floor next to the tree. But without a foundation that tree was not going to stand.

      Without a foundation you and I will never stand either. As Jesus concluded his Sermon on the Mount, he said that “every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:26-27). The foolish man’s “house” was his life. It collapsed because it was not built on the solid rock, the person and teachings of Jesus (vs. 24-25; cf. 1 Cor. 3:11).

      After a few moments of searching, Carolyn found our missing stand hiding in a box in the attic. Half an hour later our tree was standing tall in the den window. But many people have never discovered the foundation upon which to build a fulfilled and lasting life. Yes, they have managed to put together some of life’s important pieces. And perhaps they have decorated their “branches” with the glitter of wealth, power, fame or achievement. But without Jesus they lie prostrated by sin.