BUILDING our LIVES on a SOLID FOUNDATION!
October
10 Bible Reading: Matthew Chapters 7-9
BUILDING our LIVES on a SOLID FOUNDATION
"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." (Matt 7:24-27)
Our Lord Jesus
Christ closes His ‘Sermon on the Mount’ with a parable that drives home the
importance of obedience. It is not
enough to hear these sayings; we must put them into practice. If a person lives
according to the principles of this sermon, the world calls him a fool but
Jesus calls him a wise man. The world considers a wise man to be someone who
lives by sight, who lives for the present, and who lives for self; Jesus calls
such a person a fool. Mere religious profession is both unwise and worthless in
withstanding the tests of life. Hearing and doing what Jesus said determines
success or failure in one’s earthly walk.
The key
difference in the two houses is not their external appearance. Pharisees and
scribes may seem to be as righteous as the heirs of the kingdom. The key in the
story is the foundations. The house on the rock pictures a life founded on a
proper relationship to Christ (16:18; 1 Cor. 10:4; 1 Pet. 2:4–8). It will stand
the test of Christ’s judgment, but the house on the sand will fail the test
(see 1 Cor. 3:12–15).
It is also legitimate
to use the wise and foolish builders to illustrate
the gospel. The wise man puts his full confidence in the Rock, Christ
Jesus, as Lord and Savior. The foolish man refuses to repent and rejects Jesus
as his only hope of salvation.
To build our
lives on a solid foundation, we need to follow the instructions of Jesus by both hearing and doing the things that
Jesus has told us (v. 24). Then only we will have safe, solid and significant
lives. Building our lives on an unstable foundation like the sifting morals of
the present world, worldly permissive culture and the opinions of others will
result in total destruction at the times of testing. By obeying the unwavering truth of God’s word will bring stability that
is not available anywhere else!
"But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:22-25)
