Re-Laying Foundations

Hebrews 6:1-3

The author continues his thought from the previous chapter about the maturity level of his audience. The author indicates his intention to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ, which the next paragraph certainly does. Nothing like going from elementary school to graduate school in less than two paragraphs. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The author lists the foundational teachings: repentance, faith in God, cleansing rites, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Looking at this list, my mind is suddenly engaged. I think that it would make a great outline for a new believer's class: the class on cleansing rites could be about religious rituals and the class on laying on of hands could be about spiritual gifts and calling.
The sad part about looking at this list is that I think a lot of so called "mature" disciples of Christ don't have this foundation. The author says that he is not going to lay the foundation again. Instead he is going to build on the foundation. For me, I need to make sure that: 1) I have a good foundation of teaching to build on in my own personal journey, 2) that I lay a good foundation of elementary truths for disciples to whom I minister and 3) I rely on God's wisdom to know when it is time to move on from the foundations in the disciples I am leading.

foundational

Matthew 7:24-27

Jesus uses another words picture here in the conclusion of his sermon. He tells the story of two men: one who built his house on a foundation of rock and one who built his house on a foundation of sand. The house built on rock was able to with-stand all that came its way while the house built on sand collapsed under the onslaught of the storm. The simile is that the person who hears Jesus' words and puts them into practice is like the one who built the house on the rock. The one who hears Jesus' words but does not practice them is like the one who built the house on the sand.
So, let's review: if I ignore Jesus' teaching on treating other people with the honour, dignity and respect they deserve as a person created in the image of God, my life will likely end in a wreck. This involves hatred, lust, broken promises, vengeance, etc. It also means that if I don't trust God to provide my needs and take the energy that I used to direct towards worrying about the things of this earth and direct it towards pursuing God's righteousness and kingdom, my life is equally likely to end up in a wreck. Finally, it means that if I am lazy about discerning which is the right way and who are the teachers of truth that my life, again, is likely to end in wreckage.
On the flip side, if I trust God and seek his way, treating others with the dignity, honour and respect that they deserve because they are created in his image, then I have hope in the middle of storms and assurance even in the hurricanes that life will bring.