Build Your Life on the Rock

June 27, 2023

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells the story of two builders: a wise one and a foolish one.

The foolish man builds his house on sand. When a storm comes, the house falls with a great crash.

The wise builder, though, builds his house on the rock. When rain and winds come, his house stands firm. Jesus says: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24 NIV).

Jesus says people who hear his teachings but don’t put them into

practice are like that foolish builder. It’s one thing to say you follow

Jesus. It’s another thing to DO what Jesus says to do. THAT’S building

your life on the rock.

You can’t become all that God wants you to be on a faulty foundation.

Here are some of the faulty foundations you may be tempted to build

your life on:

• Popular culture.Some
• people think they’ll simply do what every other person is doing. If
• it’s popular, that’s what they’ll do too. Yet what’s popular today won’t
• be popular tomorrow. Basing your life on popular culture is like
• building a house on a constantly moving foundation. It doesn’t work!
• Tradition.Other
• people build their lives on what has always been done or whatever their
• parents did. That does make a little sense; tradition becomes tradition
• because it works. But no tradition lasts forever. It eventually wears
• out, becomes obsolete, and is invalid. In Mark 7 Jesus tells the Pharisees never to put tradition before truth. It’s a good reminder for all of us.
• Reason.God gave us the ability to reason; we need to use it. But our reason isn’t infallible. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (NIV). Even the smartest among us will falter sometimes. It’s to be expected. Only God can be trusted all the time.
• Emotions. Some
• build their lives on a feeling. If it feels right, they do it. But
• feelings lie—they lie all the time! You lie to yourself more than anyone
• else. If you live by your feelings, you’ll spend your life manipulated
• by your moods.

If it doesn’t work to build your life on popular culture, tradition,

reason, or your emotions, what should you build your life on?

God’s Word. 

The first chapter of the book of James concludes with three examples

of how you can know that you’ve been effectively putting God’s Word into

practice:

1. You’ll have a controlled mouth: “Those who consider
2. themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their
3. tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (James 1:26 NIV).
4. You’ll have a caring heart: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress”(James 1:27 NIV).
5. You’ll have a clean mind: “keep oneself from being polluted by the world”(James 1:27 NIV).

Those things, James tells us, are evidence of your faith.

In John 13:17, Jesus tells his followers: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (NIV).

The blessings of the Bible come when you put its teachings into practice.

You should read your Bible! But, then… do what it says.

Popular culture changes, traditions grow stale, reason can be faulty, and emotions lie. Yet God’s Word—his truth—never changes.