Anyone who has ever bought a house knows that one of the first things you check is the foundation. So much can go wrong if a house's foundation isn't what it should be. Walls can settle; floors can cease to be level; plaster cracks; windows don't shut right; water seeps in-- the list goes on and on. When there is any doubt about the foundation, people hire inspectors to make sure things are right before making an offer. It just isn't something about which you would take a risk. The same is true in the spiritual life, as Jesus points out in today's Gospel (Mt 7: 21- 29), using the analogy of a house built on rock versus a house built on sand. Sure, Jesus seems to be saying, you may claim that you follow Me. You may even work miracles in My name. But if you don't listen to My words and act on them, your life is not built on a foundation that will last. That's the importance of a correct spiritual foundation. So we might ask ourselves: do we listen to Jesus' words and act on them? Do we have them as our foundation? Or is our foundation somewhere or something else? There are lots of other foundations out there. Self-help books, drugs, relationships, work, money. But none of those last. That was made so clear in the tragic deaths of Irwin Jacobs and his wife-- folks who seemed to have all the worldly things one could want, but that apparently wasn't enough. Jesus tells us what it takes to have Him as our foundation-- listen to His words and act on them. That first part-- the listening part-- sounds simple but it takes time and dedication. It takes reading and thinking about what the Gospels tell us, every day. it doesn't take a ton of time, but if you're really going to listen to Jesus you have to be engaged in the process, which means doing it regularly. That means Bible study or reading the lectionary readings or some other regular contact with the Scriptures. Then there's the next piece, the acting on it piece. Often it isn't easy to know exactly what jesus is telling us to do (should I really pluck out my eye when it has caused me to sin?). So there needs to be not just listening, but prayer, reflection, study, maybe even conversation with others, before we can have confidence about doing what we believe we have heard the Lord say. All this requires habits-- habits of study, reading, prayer and conversation. If you think about it, habits are the foundation of who we are. Habits are the basis of our spiritual life. Habits are what can lead us down the right or wrong path. Habits are our rock or sand. So as we check our foundation, we might think about our habits. If they're not what they should be, perhaps it is time for a little work on our foundation, before cracks develop and the whole structure comes crashing down.