Choose Wisely

Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”  Luke 6:46-49

Jesus gives us three principles to learn in this passage. This parable teaches us to choose wisely when considering how we live our lives. We shall examine this familiar text and see how God would use it to help us.

1) There are two foundations on which to build our lives. One is obedience to Christ and one is disobedience to Christ. Those who trust Christ for salvation and seek to obey Him are building upon the rock. Those who forsake Christ are building their lives upon the sand. The true followers of Christ will last while those who reject Christ will be swept away. There are not many ways, only two. We either trust in Jesus or trust in something (or someone) else.

2) Every person is building upon one of these two foundations. There are no exceptions to Jesus’ teaching. People are either seeking to live for Christ or they are living for self. What we see here is a binary. Trusting Christ leads to life and forsaking Christ leads to destruction and separation from the mercy, grace, and goodness of God forever.

3) The troubles of life will be experienced by all. The “storms” of life come to everyone eventually. Jesus didn’t say if the storms arrive. Instead, He teaches us that the storms will arrive at some point.

The trials and difficulties of life reveal the foundation on which we are resting. The solid rock dwellers will be able to make it through this life and enter the presence of Christ. The sand dwellers will be swept away from the presence of Christ once and for all.

This is a powerful teaching. And it leads me to end this post with one question. What are you building your life upon?

Tony French