Seeds for 07/03/2023 - Matthew 7:24-27
Scripture: 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Observation: Here He goes again. Jesus is master of concise contrast and tight similes. Two men, houses, storms. One stands, one falls. The difference? The wisdom of obedience to Jesus.
He’s been building up to this. Enter through the narrow gate instead of following the crowd. Watch out for false prophets who are good talk and bad fruit (as true now as then). Finally, people who talk as if they know the Lord, but do not. What’s the key?
Like James says, probably putting Jesus’ teaching into his own words, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Jesus says it this way here: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock… it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.” Jesus’ teaching is our foundation for life. This is not in a moralistic sense. We don’t earn our reconciliation with God. It’s our foundation of godly wisdom, meant to inspire, challenge and instruct in the way of life. Growing in obedience demonstrates that we have faith in the truth of His teaching.
It’s critical to note that Jesus does not say, “everyone who hears these words of mine and memorizes them is like a man who built his house on the rock.” While learning the words is important, we’re not there until we’ve put them “into practice.”
Information + application = transformation.
Personally, I’m more comfortable accumulating knowledge about Jesus’ words. But that’s not faith. That’s not stepping out on the bridge and trusting it will get you to the other side. Faith is not a written exam, it’s an apprenticeship. If we only hear the words, we still haven’t built the foundation; we’ve only gathered the materials.
Building our foundation on the rock begins with one act of trusting obedience. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a deeply mature Christian life. We have to start somewhere.
Application:
Reread Matthew 5-7. Where is God lead you to take a first step to practice the teaching of Jesus?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, show me my next step of faith in living by your Word and give me a holy push to take it. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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Words worth thinking about this morning! “Faith is not a written exam, it’s an apprenticeship. If we only hear the words, we still haven’t built the foundation; we’ve only gathered the materials.”