LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 7:24, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken them to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”   Jesus

 

If you have been reading this blog for long, you might remember that I have written on this section of Scripture before.  It is important to address this again in the entire context of the Sermon on the Mount.  This is a third example given by Jesus to show the difference between a false and a true profession of Christianity; the Lord gave a comparison between two men and two houses.

 

Both men build houses for their family to live in.  Maybe they look alike and are built near each other.  The point is the differences in the two houses could not be easily seen.   Jesus said both houses experienced the rain, the wind, and flooding that came.  When the trials came, the difference become noticeable.  The wise man dug deep to lay a strong foundation for his house; the foolish man was in a hurry and wanted the work done quickly.  He did not pay attention to the need to build a foundation to endure the storms that would come.

 

This foolish person was not interested in learning from the Bible; when he wanted something done, he did it his way.  He never gave thought to the future or to any tests or trial that might come his way.  I guess he is on that broad road that leads to destruction.

 

The wise man had a desire to build a strong, well-built house.  He consulted others who understood construction, got all the right plans and specifications and planned for whatever would happen in the future.  That’s wisdom.

 

I need my brother-in-law to talk about building a house.  I believe he would tell me the most important part of the house is the foundation.  It had better be level and built strong because if it is built wrong the entire house will be built wrong.  Once built the time to make sure the plans are right is gone.  Only when the ground shifts or the rain and wind comes, will poor construction be seen.

 

The two men and the two houses are used by Jesus to point out the differences between true and false Christianity.  As with the two houses and two men there are similarities in the spiritual realm.  For example, one will find both Christians and non-Christians in the same place.  They are both found in church, listen to contemporary Christian music, are interested in the same activities, and have the same desire for peace, comfort and a comfortable life style.  By appearance it can be difficult to tell them apart.  Both Christian and non-Christian believe that they are going to heaven when they die.  There seemed to be no difference between Judas Iscariot and the rest of the disciples; they did not even know he was different.

 

However, there is an obvious difference between the Christian and the non-Christian.  The non-Christian wants the blessings of the Christian life but desires them without being on the narrow road; he does not want to be bothered by the doctrines set forth in the Bible.  He does not want to be guided by Jesus – he only wants to please himself.  The non-Christian does not want to know what the Bible teaches because it will cause him to consider who he really is.  There is no hunger or thirst for righteousness, nor a desire to seek first the kingdom of God. 

 

After studying the Sermon on the Mount, the true Christian will want to put it into practice.  He desires to live a life of faith which produces good works.  He loves God because of who He is and his main desire is to bring glory to God by the way he lives.

 

So, who are you?  Are you the wise builder or the foolish builder?  Is your foundation built on the Jesus Christ, the Rock, or is your foundation one of shifting sand?  Don’t wait until the tests come that will make who you are evident (With what we are seeing in this nation and around the world they are coming!)  Make that decision right now!

 

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