Matthew 7:24-29

“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. 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. 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. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Reflection:

Jesus uses a powerful illustration to help understand how to live our lives.In our context, this illustration could be the activity of building sandcastles. While baking under the sun, one tirelessly goes back and forth to the ocean to get buckets of water, excessively sweating, and of course there seems to be sand everywhere - face, eyes, ears, mouth, swimsuit, etc.And then after all the effort to build a magnificent castle, if it is magnificent at all, one wave from the incoming tide can wash it all away. All the hard work is destroyed in one instance, and what was once magnificent is flattened to insignificance. We can make it as poetic as we like, but this simple illustration has important parallels to how one lives and builds for what lasts.

Response:

What are we building for?What ways are more ’sand’ castle than ’stone’ castle?God’s Word is the only solid foundation from which we can ‘build’ our lives in ways that will stand the storms and seasons of life.What God has done for us in Jesus Christ, who is actually the cornerstone to our lives, and all that God provides for His people through His Word are ‘rock’ for a life built to last and built to bless.Unlike the futility of sandcastles, as fun as they can be, as we hear God’s Word and put it into practice truth by truth, it is God’s magnificence that radiates from our lives. Today, let’s spend time remembering and putting into practice the things we have been learning since Sunday, applying God’s truths to how we live and love others. Let’s pray for the Spirit’s guidance so that we will build appropriately with Christ continually being our cornerstone.