Lyndal Dale

What foundation are you building your life on?  Many people seek public opinion as a foundation for determining their success or failure in life. We want to know what other people think, and that often determines our course of action.  There are companies who specialize in trying to poll public opinion and report it to their sponsors or to the news media.  We’ll hear about a political candidate or a politician’s approval rating, and it seems to fluctuate from week to week.

I would suggest that public opinion is not a stable foundation.  It can shift quickly.  Remember the welcome Jesus received as He came into Jerusalem for what we call the Triumphal Entry.  He had just raised Lazarus from the dead and as John records it in John 12:12-13

“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

The King of Israel!”

That was on Sunday–we sometimes refer to it as Palm Sunday.  The crowds in Jerusalem were chanting “Hosanna”, calling Him the King of Israel, and putting down palm branches in front of Him.  But if we fast forward to the Friday of that same week, we find the same crowds in the same city offering a totally different cry.  Notice John 19:14-15

“Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”

From blessing Him and calling Him King to crying out “Crucify Him!” just is the space of five  short days–that’s how fickle public opinion can be.

Let’s put our trust in God and His Word.  That will never change, and then we don’t have to worry what men may think.  We just need to know what God thinks.  Let that be the foundation for your life.