House Building
The Sunday school song about building your house upon the rock is certainly a familiar one for many of us, and the parable from which the song is inspired closes out Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. But can familiarity make the parable feel less profound, maybe even cartoonish in our mind’s eye? Because I want to take seriously the command to be wise in building my house.
Do you feel like the world lacks stability? Do you have friends and family whose lives seem unstable? Do you think any of it is due to building on sand? What does a life built on the rock look like?
Here is the parable:
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7: 24-27
Wisdom is hearing and doing — it is centering your life on Christ. Foolishness is hearing but failing to obey. Have you experienced or witnesses floods and winds that resulted in a great fall? The rain falls on both the foolish and the wise. The floods and the winds come to both. The difference is the foundation. What would you say is the foundation of your life? Is it hearing God’s word with a commitment to obey? Or are you tuning Him out? Do you half-listen and decide what applies to you?
I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon: “The Holy Ghost will not come to rescue us from the consequences of willful neglect of the Word of God and study.” Studying God’s Word is the first step to building the right foundation. Can you commit to finishing off 2022 with daily Bible study?
Digging Deeper:
When have you felt the firmest in your foundation? What made you feel secure?
Who do you know that is committed to studying God’s Word? Do you think this commitment helps them endure the storms of life?