Good teacher, please tell us a story.
There was a certain man who left his house to go camping. With him he took only his tent and a backpack. In the backpack were the essentials for his journey, enough food and water, and camping supplies.
He journeyed toward the forest in search of a good camping site. At first, the trail offered no resistance to his effort. The path was smooth and well-worn. On the evening of his first day, he began to look for a place to pitch his tent. A clearing in the woods suggested good ground. There, he laid down his backpack and raised his tent. The tent went up easily and he hammered the stakes into the ground. Because the ground was soft, the stakes went in with few swings of the hammer.
Night fell. Soon, a storm came. The winds blew and the rain fell.
Before too long, the wind filled his tent, and the stakes were lifted from the ground. At first, the man tried his best to secure the stakes and his tent. But the storm raged on. The man soon gave up, abandoned his effort and moved on without his tent and his stakes.
There was another man who also left his house to find suitable camping ground. Traveling into the woods, he also found a clearing and pitched his tent. The stakes went into the ground without much effort, but the man knew this would not last. Before night fell, he decided to keep walking to find firmer ground. Finding it, he pitched his tent and drove the stakes into the ground. He was a strong man, but the ground did not give way easily. So, he hammered until the stakes were deep enough to secure the tent. Then, night fell. A storm came. The rain poured and a mighty wind blew. For a while, the stakes held. But the wind was strong, and the stakes came loose. At first, despite his effort, the man felt there was no use. When the storm passed and dawn came, the man lifted himself and walked on with his backpack, stakes, and tent.
A third man went out. Because he knew the woods might offer him the unpredictable, he searched for the best ground upon which to pitch his tent. He searched for higher ground and finding it, he pitched his tent where he knew he would find assurance for the trail had been difficult. This ground was the firmest of bedrock and with several mighty heaves of his hammer, his stakes were securely anchored. Night fell. A storm came and the winds raged. And behold, when the dawn came, there were to him his tent, the stakes, and the firm ground upon which he stood.
Good teacher, what does the parable mean?
The tent is your life. The stake is your faith, and the ground is where you place it. To those who have ears, let them hear.