The Wise Builder
Matt 7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."
Luke 6:47-49 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. "But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."
Whenever we hear the word of God, our life meets a fork in the road. We can choose to act on the word of God, or we can choose to not act on the word of God. This can happen many times in our lives. The primary, or most important time that this occurs is when we first hear the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. All the other “forks in the road” are secondary to this one.
What, however, is the word of God. Primarily, the word of God is the bible, but it is also Jesus (John 1:1-14). Therefore, when Jesus talks about “hearing these words of Mine”, we need to pay close attention to what He is actually saying. While Jesus’ “words in red” are important, He is also talking about the ENTIRE bible here.
With that in mind, who is the person who acts on His words? This person is compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. Luke goes even further to explain that this person has “dug deep and laid a foundation” on the rock. We can equate that to “digging deep” into the bible - searching it out, exploring it, clarifying meanings when we are unsure. There are precepts in the bible that are important to our lives, but we will not know about them unless we have read them. Jesus gives us new commandments and there are new “rules to live by” in the new testament, but a person is unaware of them unless they have read them. Unless they have “dug deep” into the word – “dug deep” into the heart of Jesus. Doing so will bring a person to the “rock”. The solid rock that is our salvation. Jesus Christ is that rock. We are to build our foundation upon Him, and the things that He stands for and teaches us through the words of the bible. Once we have built our foundation upon Jesus, we can build the rest of our house upon our foundation.
Notice that it does not detail the type of house that is built. Neither man in the parable (the wise or the fool) is assumed to have built a “bad looking” or shoddy home. No. It is the foundation that is the key. Our foundation is the core beliefs of Christianity that we must hold dear and true. What have we been taught, what have we read (in the bible and elsewhere), what have we heard (on TV and radio, etc.) – these things that define what Christianity is to us – that is our foundation. The rock (Jesus Christ) will ALWAYS be there. However, WE build the foundation. All of the “building blocks” are given to us in the bible. It is up to us to believe in them, and put them properly into place. Our “house” (our life) is then built upon our foundation.
A person can be a humble, devoted servant of the poor all their life. They can have a great looking “house” (their life), but if their foundation is not built upon Jesus Christ it is all for naught. The flood, rain, and torrents can take on many forms in this parable, but the ultimate form is death itself. When death comes upon us, it is the ultimate “flood” over our lives. It is at this time when the foundation of your life will be tested. No one knows when death will happen, but when it does, if your foundation is not built upon Jesus Christ, the ruin of your house (your life) will be great indeed. And it will be eternal.
For the Christian, when we hear the word of God, and do not act upon it, I do believe that it is akin to us allowing a little bit of our foundation to deteriorate. The rock (Jesus) will never deteriorate, but we can allow our foundation, which is our responsibility, to crumble a little. We can also repair it by going back and acting upon the word of God.
Our “house” is always under construction. As we grow older (physically and spiritually), we are always making renovations and additions. The foundation, however, always needs to be maintained. That way, when the storms of life do crash around us, we are secure in our knowledge that our foundation, and the rock that it is built on, will never give way beneath us.
Luke 6:47-49 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. "But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."
Whenever we hear the word of God, our life meets a fork in the road. We can choose to act on the word of God, or we can choose to not act on the word of God. This can happen many times in our lives. The primary, or most important time that this occurs is when we first hear the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. All the other “forks in the road” are secondary to this one.
What, however, is the word of God. Primarily, the word of God is the bible, but it is also Jesus (John 1:1-14). Therefore, when Jesus talks about “hearing these words of Mine”, we need to pay close attention to what He is actually saying. While Jesus’ “words in red” are important, He is also talking about the ENTIRE bible here.
With that in mind, who is the person who acts on His words? This person is compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. Luke goes even further to explain that this person has “dug deep and laid a foundation” on the rock. We can equate that to “digging deep” into the bible - searching it out, exploring it, clarifying meanings when we are unsure. There are precepts in the bible that are important to our lives, but we will not know about them unless we have read them. Jesus gives us new commandments and there are new “rules to live by” in the new testament, but a person is unaware of them unless they have read them. Unless they have “dug deep” into the word – “dug deep” into the heart of Jesus. Doing so will bring a person to the “rock”. The solid rock that is our salvation. Jesus Christ is that rock. We are to build our foundation upon Him, and the things that He stands for and teaches us through the words of the bible. Once we have built our foundation upon Jesus, we can build the rest of our house upon our foundation.
Notice that it does not detail the type of house that is built. Neither man in the parable (the wise or the fool) is assumed to have built a “bad looking” or shoddy home. No. It is the foundation that is the key. Our foundation is the core beliefs of Christianity that we must hold dear and true. What have we been taught, what have we read (in the bible and elsewhere), what have we heard (on TV and radio, etc.) – these things that define what Christianity is to us – that is our foundation. The rock (Jesus Christ) will ALWAYS be there. However, WE build the foundation. All of the “building blocks” are given to us in the bible. It is up to us to believe in them, and put them properly into place. Our “house” (our life) is then built upon our foundation.
A person can be a humble, devoted servant of the poor all their life. They can have a great looking “house” (their life), but if their foundation is not built upon Jesus Christ it is all for naught. The flood, rain, and torrents can take on many forms in this parable, but the ultimate form is death itself. When death comes upon us, it is the ultimate “flood” over our lives. It is at this time when the foundation of your life will be tested. No one knows when death will happen, but when it does, if your foundation is not built upon Jesus Christ, the ruin of your house (your life) will be great indeed. And it will be eternal.
For the Christian, when we hear the word of God, and do not act upon it, I do believe that it is akin to us allowing a little bit of our foundation to deteriorate. The rock (Jesus) will never deteriorate, but we can allow our foundation, which is our responsibility, to crumble a little. We can also repair it by going back and acting upon the word of God.
Our “house” is always under construction. As we grow older (physically and spiritually), we are always making renovations and additions. The foundation, however, always needs to be maintained. That way, when the storms of life do crash around us, we are secure in our knowledge that our foundation, and the rock that it is built on, will never give way beneath us.
posted by MarkD at 12:41 PM
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