He promises that our houses will not fall. Jesus tells us that hearing and doing His words will empower us to withstand these forces. Or maybe worst of all, the negative, defeating self-talk we subject ourselves to all day long. The words that beat against our houses are things like thoughtless remarks from a friend, a harsh rebuke from a boss, a heartless, cowardly attack online by an internet troll. Winds I see as “words.” Words that have great power to either build up or tear down. We are in real danger of being swept off our feet and drowned. And some storms are swift, unexpected, and overwhelming.įloods are obviously times when an all-out life threatening disaster is coming at us: a catastropic illness, the death of a loved one, a divorce, a job loss, financial ruin. Some troubles are small, persistent and annoying. Taken together these are the everyday troubles of life. Or they can be out and out downpours that we can’t even see through, complete with terrifying thunder and lightning. They can be light – we may need an umbrella, but we can still go about our business. Rains can vary greatly – they can be a foggy drizzle that sucks the joy out of our day. What might these things look like in our everyday lives? Let’s look back at our text ( Matthew 7:24-27) – Jesus mentions three threats to our houses: rains, floods, and winds. But He has everything to do with them! What’s Threatening Our House? It’s as though we don’t think Jesus has anything to do with those areas. We move on to our vocational slice, our parenting slice, or our recreational slice, and leave our faith completely out. And then we consciously or unconsciously leave Jesus in His pie slice. We’ve checked the boxes, we are “doing fine” there. We feel like that “slice of our pie” is strong. A daily quiet time of study and prayer is part of our routine. We go to church on Sundays, and we may even participate in a weekly Bible study or small group. Instead of an organic whole, our lives look more like colorful pie charts with hard lines dividing the sections. It’s very easy for us to compartmentalize our lives without even being aware of it. Notice the entire house must rest on a solid foundation, not just a few parts. It represents our faith, our vocation or job, our relationships, our health, etc. The “house” we are building is a metaphor for our whole lives. Let’s flesh Jesus’ home-building analogy out a bit. After a storm, I often wonder why some homes in a neighborhood look fine while others are nearly destroyed. I live in North Carolina where we get more than our fair share of severe weather, with hurricanes, tropical storms, and even a few Nor’easters. They may build the grandest of houses, but they sit on a shaky foundation. Those who hear His words, but fail to live by them are foolish builders. The winds howl, the rains come – even a flood comes – but the house stands firm. They have built their homes on rock-solid foundations. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus states that those who hear His words AND do them are wise builders.
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