Tue, 22 November, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us to seriously consider what He has told us in the sermon. We can’t take it lightly, for this is serious.
What do we learn from this?
There is stability in the life of the person who puts Jesus’ commands into practice. Jesus compares it to building the foundation of your life on a foundation of rock. But if you choose to ignore His commands, you are building your life on shifting sand.
Notice that there is no difference in what happens to the two people in Jesus’ example. Both the follower of Jesus and the one who ignores His commands are hit by the identical flooding storms. They both suffer the same difficult circumstances. We learn from this that there is no guarantee that the follower of Jesus will be exempted from suffering and troubles. We will face the same suffering that those around us also suffer.
But there is a difference between the to people: their reaction to the troubles. The person who is following Jesus’ commands will stand in the time of trials, while the one who ignores Jesus and His commands will collapse under the trials.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The lesson is not that if we follow a set of rules we will have the ability to withstand difficult times. This isn’t about our ability, or what we can do. The lesson is that as we are to grow in trust of Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives. We grow in our obedience to His commands, and we also grow in ability to trust Him in the difficult times. There are results of our trusting Jesus Christ in the times of difficulty: we have a peace that others do not have. But this points us back to Jesus Christ and encourages us to grow in our faith and obedience to Him.
