“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: 25 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).
There is a parallel Scripture in Luke 6:47-49: ” Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
It is interesting that in both Gospels, the authors wrote about the same situation.
We see the picture of two people who consciously chose the foundation on which to build their house. One man builds carefully, and the other – hit or miss, without any special effort. However, Luke still added that the man dug deep for his house to be strong.
Unfortunately, we see the images of these two people in believers. There are those who build their Christian life on the rock, on the Word of God, not on the surface, but deep, paying the price. And there is another group of people, who do not like doing that.
We always have a thousand things, even the right things, to do at home, but we put everything aside and come to the house of God. This is a kind of price.
It takes effort to listen. To listen means not only listening with the ear, but with the heart. Then it is important to do what you’ve heard. So we see three requirements to become a “wise man”: coming, listening and obeying.
We must come to God with willingness to do whatever the Word may require us to do. If the Word is about forgiveness, then I am ready to forgive. Remember the story of the centurion who asked the Lord for the healing of his servant: “Say the word, and my servant will be healed.” In the same way, and we must build a relationship with God.
What else do we see in these two stories? We see two men, who were building their house, but in different ways. One heard and become a doer of the Word, the other also heard, but decided he could do differently, and the end showed who was wise. This is a matter of obedience. In fact, there are more people who come than those who listen, and there are more listeners than those who obey the Word.
How can we be wise? – By obeying the Word of God!
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21). To finish the job is the personal responsibility of each of us. People give up along the way of obeying, because it is the most difficult thing to do, but the power of God helps. The man who builds on the rock is real, he doesn’t pretend, he is not satisfied with just visible things. It’s a great opportunity to build on the rock, to build on God’s Word!
We all know that the foundation of a house is invisible, but the quality of the building depends on it, and only during a storm can you check the quality of the foundation. When trials come, do not worry! If you are conscientious about the word of God, the end will be good.
Obedience to God doesn’t exempt from trials, but obedience shows if we shall stand the test. Faith in Jesus Christ does not mean that we will not have trials, there will be problems. The Christian life saves us from a lot of problems, but does not protect us from the tests and trials. This is the law of life, and we must not allow the devil to deceive us.
God calls us to be wise builders! God’s character is formed in us during the process of fulfilling the Word, obeying the Word. The Beatitudes teach us obedience: Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the mourners for God’s work, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, and blessed are the peacemakers. Such a man resembles Jesus, and that is our strength and our safety.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not rest until you fulfill the will of God, build your life on the rock! Do not hide from the Word of God, do not avoid conviction to find out what else can be corrected in your heart!
May God bless you!
From the Central Church Service,
June 12, 2014.
Press center of the “Embassy of God Church.”
