(24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man , which built his house upon a rock. (25) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (26) And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. (27) And the rain descendant, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. ( Matthew 7:25-27 KJV)

What is your foundation built upon? Jesus tells us that whoever not only hears his words but also does them. He compares them to a wise man. Which has built his house upon a rock. In other word a wise man is one who builds not only their life but also their faith on a solid foundation.  Let’s look at it from a physical perspective for a minute. When you’re looking to  build a house or any type of building for that matter.  The first thing that we would consider is the foundation in which we were hoping to build upon. The foundation has to be able to have the ability to hold up whatever it is that you want to build on it. The foundation is the basis or starting point of something.  It’s the cornerstone or the core. In order for the house or building to be able to stand the test of time it would have to be built on a solid foundation. You wouldn’t build a house on a shaky or unstable foundation. Just as we wouldn’t want to build a physical building on a faulty foundation we don’t want to build our spiritual life on something that is faulty either.

(24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.

Jesus tells us that it’s not enough just to hear the word of God, but to also do the word of God. It’s not enough just to hear what is being taught or preached. After hearing the word we must also apply what we have heard to our lives. It’s what separates the people of God from the people of the world. The word is constantly going out.  We’re exposed to the word on a continuous basis. Whether it’s Sunday at church, listening to a sermon on the internet, reading a Christian based book, or even this a Christian blog.  My point is that we come in constant contact with hearing God’s words, but it’s when we do what the word tells us that we can be assured that we have built our faith upon the rock. (Jesus Christ)

(25) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

I want for you to imagine a house in the midst of a hurricane! I live in Houston not too long ago Hurricane Harvey hit. I love the rain! I remember during the storm I would open my blinds and just watch the rain fall. I could see the water pounding on the apartments across from ours. I remember watching the trees blowing uncontrollably and the shingles of the roof flapping trying to come off as well as some of the sidings. What I remember the most is watching the water rise in my parking lot. ( my family and loved ones were some of the blessed ones we weathered the storm with no damages either physically or materially, but continue to pray for those who did lose their house or loved ones) Just as a physical storm can beat upon a building. So will the storms of life. For some it’s illnesses such as cancer or HIV. For others its being laid off, infertility, loss of a relationship, the death of a love one just to name a few. Life is full of storms, but Jesus lets us know that it’s those who build their lives on him who will be able to weather any storm. The rain will come we can’t stop that, but what we cans do is make sure that we build up on the rock! Jesus gave us the blueprint in how to do that. By not only hearing the word but living the word.

(26) And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: (27) and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

What makes a man foolish? Jesus says it’s those who hear the word but are not doers. Jesus lets us know that plenty of people hear the word but we become a fool when we hear it but that’s it. We don’t apply it and we don’t let it change us. The scripture says in James (22)  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: (24) For he beholdeth  himself, and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. (James 1:22-24).

James tells us that when we just hear the word but don’t become doers of the word that it’s like a man who sees himself in the mirror, but makes no attempt to change their appearance. The word of God is our mirror. It shows us who we are. Jesus tells us that it’s foolish to hear the word and not let it change us. Hearing the word is not always listening to someone preaching or teaching the word. It can also be our private  bible reading time any time we digest the word were hearing the word. Jesus calls it foolish because we have the instructions on how to live a godly life, but we ignore it in favor of something else. Jesus says it is like a man who built his house on the sand. The rain, the wind and the floods came and it fell. Not only did it fall but Jesus says that great was the fall of it. pay attention to this it wasn’t the rain, the wind, or the floods that caused the great fall. It was what the house built upon that caused the great fall. The rain fell on both the house that was built on the rock as well as the one that was built upon the sand. The difference was the foundation. Jesus is letting us know that yes the rain will come but those who build their lives on him even though the storm will come we won’t collapse and topple over. We have the confidence that no matter how hard the trial is because we are rooted in him. We know that we will still stand tall!

It will rain, but what determines whether we fall or continue to stand is where we decide to build our house upon the rock (Jesus) or the sand(the things of the world). I urge you to be likened unto a wise man who not only heard the word but applied the word.

God’s blessings,

Aqua