Sermon illustration, anyone?

In Cotonou there is a beach restaurant where we often go to have a drink or an icecream, enjoying the sound of the crashing waves. Being on the edge of the sea, the proprietors had built a huge concrete wall, planted deeply into the beach, presumably hoping this would protect them from the constant wearing-away of the beach by the waves. Here is the wall with a little Simon standing next to it in 2011:



When we were last in Cotonou we went to the restaurant one afternoon, and were startled to find that 20 or 30 metres-length of their seating area had simply disappeared, along with the huge wall. The beach looked exactly the same, yet it must have advanced a good way in just five months.

A little way down the beach, next to a wrecked ship, part of the ruins of the wall can still be seen. I pointed out to our kids what a good illustration this is of the parable in Matthew 7. Building on sand can look impressive ... but it isn't safe!