Tag Archives: built his house on sand

WISE AND FOOLISH BUILDERS

Christian Life, , ,

WISE AND FOOLISH BUILDERS

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock…But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand…” Matthew 7:24, 26.

You don’t have to be a builder to know that a house must be built on a solid foundation if it is to weather storms. Without a foundation, there is nothing to keep it from falling down or blowing away. Jesus used this simple picture to urge His disciples to build their lives on a foundation of truth that will not fail them when they are faced with the storms of life.

Every religion has its teachers and its teachings based on the gods they serve. How do we know which one is telling the truth?

First, we must look at the person who is telling us what to do. We must look at two things: what kind of person was he, and did he do what he taught?

Second, we must find out who the authority is behind his teaching. What is the god like who is responsible for the teaching?

It is not possible to examine all the teachings of every religion. One thing we can say is that there is only one God who claims to be the true God – the God of the Bible. When we examine what He has revealed about Himself, we discover that He is the only one who is so different from human beings and other gods that no one could have made Him up. He is the only one who loves and gives. All the other gods are like human beings and who are cruel, unpredictable and make demands on their worshippers. 

The Bible tells us that God sent His Son, Jesus, to show us what He is like. God the Father gave Jesus authority to say and do what He said and did. Jesus not only taught His disciples about God and how God wants us to live; He also lived out what He taught and then gave His life for us so that we don’t have to face the punishment for our sin. When He was punished as an innocent man, He was calm and went to the cross without a struggle because He trusted in God.

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats, but entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” 1 Peter 2:23.

Jesus also kept His promise that He would rise again. No other god or religious leader has ever done that! He said that if we do what He taught, our lives will not fall apart when we face hardships and trouble. If He kept His word about His resurrection, we can surely trust Him to keep His promise that we will not be blown away in the storms of life if we follow His teaching.

Best of all is that He sent His Holy Spirit to live in us when we believe in Him. The Spirit gives us the power to do what Jesus tells us. If we follow Him, we will build our lives on a solid foundation which will keep us standing firm when the storms of life hit us because Jesus is always with us, and He will hold us and keep us strong.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A Solid Foundation For Life

Christian Life, , , ,

A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR LIFE

What was the point of Jesus’s teaching?

It was to provide a solid foundation for their thoughts and actions as the rabbi’s talmidim. The Hebrew mind did not accept information that did not issue in a response. Theology without making a difference was pointless. The western mind wants to answer all questions, solve all riddles and problems and explain everything in logical sequence. The Hebrew person looked for a God he could lean on.

Jesus told a simple story to illustrate the difference between the wise person – the one who accepted the truth of what He taught and put it into practice, and the foolish person who knew that what He taught made sense and worked but didn’t do it anyway.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock . . . But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand . . . (Matt. 7: 24; 26)

The bottom line of His illustrations was the foundation. Without a solid foundation, even a so-called “good” person who lives a “good” life will fall apart when the storm rages. The foundation upon which one builds one’s life provides the strength and stability or not when life turns sour. There are people who claim that, though they don’t go to church, i.e., they do not claim to be disciples of Jesus, they “live by the Sermon on the Mount.” Is that possible?

No, for several reasons:

  1. Their philosophy is built on the erroneous idea that, by living “good” lives, they can erase God’s wrath against sin. They ignore the fact that sin does not make them bad; it makes them dead. However good they think their lives may be, they are dead to God and separated from Him and have no hope of being acceptable to Him outside of Jesus.

 

  1. Jesus was speaking to His disciples – those who had made a commitment to follow Him. It is only within this context that living the life He portrayed is possible. This kind of life begins with His sacrifice for their sin and the forgiveness and reconciliation to the Father that He made possible. It issues in a commitment to follow Him and walk in His way. They need the Holy Spirit who enables them to build their lives on the truth of His Word.

 

  1. To accept the words of Jesus here without accepting the rest of what He taught as authoritative and binding does not work. What He taught throughout the gospels is as binding as what He taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Everything else flows from His simple instruction: ‘Follow me.’ One cannot pick and choose what one will obey and what one will ignore. To follow Jesus meant to embrace His yoke in total and to live and teach it without alteration or one would immediately be disqualified from being a disciple.

 

  1. It is not possible to do what Jesus taught without doing it in the spirit of Torah which is contrary to the natural man. By birth we are selfish, self-centred and inward-looking. It takes the miracle of God’s grace through the power of the Holy Spirit to change a person with the “evil eye” to one who has “the eye of light”.

 

  1. Jesus was not looking for followers who would merely mimic His words and actions. He was indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit without whom He would have been just like every other human. His followers are those who are “in Christ” and Christ is “in them” by His Spirit. He is and provides the very life of Jesus without whom it is impossible to be His disciple.

If the foundation of one’s life is not based on a relationship with Jesus which issues in a transformed life indwelt by the Holy Spirit, no amount of “doing good” will gain acceptance with God or sustain one in the storms of life.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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