Collapsed
On April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial
building, collapsed in Savar, a sub-district in the Greater Dhaka Area, the
capital of Bangladesh. The building
collapsed during the morning rush-hour and was already filled with many
employees of a garment factory housed inside the building. Search and rescue workers were able to
retrieve and assist approximately 2,515 injured people. Sadly, after almost 3 weeks of searching, the
death toll numbered 1,129.
According to sources cited on Wikipedia, “It is
considered the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the
deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.”
The tragedy did not occur without warning. On Tuesday, April 23, 2013 – the day before
the collapse – a television station recorded footage showing cracks in the Rana
Plaza building and the building was evacuated.
But later in the day, the owner of the building declared that the
building was safe and that garment workers should return the next day.
According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and
Exporters Association, over 3,000 workers were in the building when at 8:57 AM,
it was as if “an earthquake had struck,” according to a local resident, and the
building collapsed.
Reasons for the collapse have been listed as: (1) The
building was built on swampy ground, (2) it was converted from commercial use
to industrial use, (3) additional stories had been built without authorization,
and (4) the use of substandard construction material led to an overload of the
building structure aggravated by vibrations due to the generators used in
manufacturing.
But as Neal Pollard observes, “There is an INFINITELY
GREATER problem invisible to the naked eye. Billions of people are building their lives
upon a foundation guaranteed to fail.
They have either never come to Jesus, or even more tragically they have
heard Him and ignored His appeals and warnings for safety.” *
Listen to Jesus:
“Therefore whoever HEARS these sayings of Mine, and DOES
them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the
rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and
it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who HEARS these
sayings of Mine, and does NOT do them, will be like a foolish man who built his
house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." – Matthew
7:24-27
The solid Rock that is the ONLY Foundation that can
withstand the storms of life is Jesus Himself.
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which
is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
Jesus, the Son of God, is the One who gave His life for us so that we
might have forgiveness of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (John
3:16; Ephesians 1:7).
In order to have Jesus as our foundation, we must place
our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts
17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed)
into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Then, we must continue to walk in the light
of His Word so that His blood can continue to cleanse us from sin (1 John 1:7).
“On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.”
-- Edward Mote
Won’t YOU take your place upon the solid Rock of Jesus by
trusting and obeying Him today?
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