If you have ever been house hunting, you probably are aware of the problems that could exist in buying a lemon. Nothing brings fear to a house hunter like buying a house that has a bad foundation. If it is really bad, the entire house will crumble to the ground. Christ uses this fear to show how important it is to obey his saying when he talks about the wise and the foolish builders at the end of the sermon on the mount.
Matthew 7:24-27 KJV
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 every one 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.
Jesus just gave a three-chapter sermon covering so many topics, and he ends with this idea of building a life on obedience to him. A wise man will obey what Jesus says, and a foolish man will not apply himself to. So, wisdom comes from obey God and foolishness comes from disobeying him. It is not enough to obey God every once in a while, when it seems good to you. An obedient life is built brick by brick, nail by nail. Sure, we fail at times, but the whole of our life should build on obedience.
Sometimes we hear people say that the foundation is Christ himself, and I agree that Christ should be the foundation of our life, but I believe Jesus is being more specific here. He is not saying that you need to be saved as a foundation – yes, we need salvation but that is not his point. Jesus is saying that following him, obeying him, and doing the things he just told us to do is the thing that we need to base our life upon. That would include salvation, but it does not end there.
A wise person will order his life to be pleasing to God; a foolish man will please himself. Where do you want to be on that spectrum? Do you want to be wise, or do you want to spend your life being your own boss? The freedom that comes when we submit to God in everything is far greater than the burden that comes from doing life our way.
S.T.
Acts 20:24
"But none of these things move me..."
wonderfullymadepublication.com 