Is Your House On The Rock?

Matthew 7:24-28 - (NLT)

Building on a Solid Foundation:
²⁴"Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is built on rock. ²⁶But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash." ²⁸After Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,

WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT BUILDING YOUR HOUSE ON SOLID ROCK?

This story in Matthew 7 was always one of my favorites when I was a little kid in Sunday School.  I remember my teacher using flannel graph (if you're a teenager, ask your parents/grandparents to explain what this is) to create a picture of a house crumbling because it was built in the wrong place.  This week all you have to do is turn on the news and you will see plenty of pictures of houses that were built in the wrong place - too close to a river, at the bottom of a sandy hill, or at the edge of a sandy cliff.

In today's scripture, Jesus makes it clear that we must build our house (life) on solid rock (obedience to what He tells us).

Some people like to be associated with Jesus (kinda like a groupie) on a superficial level.  They like including Jesus in the "religious" compartment of their lives, without putting into practice what He teaches us in His Word.  We're talking "sandy" foundation here.

Others don't purposely try to build their lives on ungodly values; instead, they just don't think through the fact that being a Christian means that you follow Jesus in complete obedience in every area of your life.  They're missing a spiritual foundation.  Get ready for worldly flooding and mudslides!

Do you want to weather the storms of life? 
Go rock solid.  Obey Him!

Talk About It:

Thank God that in Christ you can have a foundation to build your life upon.  Confess to Him any way in which you have been putting your house (life) in the wrong location without the foundation of obedience to Christ in every part of your life.  If you feel like your life is currently caught in a flood or mudslide, ask Jesus to put you back on His solid rock!

by Bryan Emmert, Youth for Christ