The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock

Why do you call me,'Lord,Lord,'and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep down and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
Luke 6:46-49


Yesterday we focused on the first part of this passage; about hearing God's word but not putting it into action. We focused on hearing and following with our hearts, not just our ears. We discussed the cost of discipleship, albeit briefly. What I want to focus on today is our relationship with Jesus.

We scratched the surface on this yesterday, and today we will look a little deeper. The scripture compares one who hears God's words with their heart, who has a relationship with Jesus, with one who hears God's words with only their ears. The comparison is that of a wise man who built his house upon the rock with the fool who built his house upon the sand; just like the song we learned as kids.

The wise man builds his house upon rock. Luke even writes that he dug down deep and placed his foundation upon rock. Then a storm came and his house withstood the torrent, because it was well built. It could not even be shaken!

Notice that the passage says WHEN the storm came, not IF the storm came. This leads me to believe that Jesus was telling those who may decide to follow Him that there will be struggles and trials and all will not always go smoothly. But we can persevere if He is our foundation, our rock to build our life upon.

But this requires digging deep down; requires work sometimes, just as the wise man dug down to the rock for his foundation. Our relationship with Jesus is not just a thing for appearance, not just a superficial thing. And if our relationship is to withstand trials and tribulations, then we need the foundation of Christ or we will be destroyed.

Just the the man who heard Jesus words and didn't put them into practice, we will be utterly destroyed. And Jesus used very straight language in this lesson. He said the man who didn't put His words into practice, the man who didn't have a relationship with Him, his house was met with COMPLETE destruction; nothing partial about it.

And so it goes with our relationship with God. We must have a real relationship in order to weather the storms in life. We must know Christ for our salvation. We may fool ourselves into thinking that we can do it some God's way and some our way, but that will lead to our destruction; and not partial destruction, but complete. Just because we do part of what God wants doesn't mean that we will be partially saved from destruction. Its an all or nothing deal; He is Lord of all or nothing at all.

So I ask that you examine your relationship with God. Then consider what your foundation is built on. Have you dug deep and found the rock that is to be your foundation or have you just built your relationship on the surface? Have you tried to take the easy way out like the man who built his house on top of the ground? After all a house is a house. No one sees the foundation anyway. And afterall, my house looks like everyone elses. Doesn't it count for something that you at least look like a Christian, just like a house on the ground looks like a house with a rock foundation? If you put in just a little effort shouldn't you get just a little something back?

God's grace is too great to dole out, and it is something that can never be earned. But this is a subject for another day; but something to consider in the price of discipleship.

Back to the subject of houses; where does all of this put you? Do you hear, accept, and practice the words of God? Do you have a solid foundation that will save you from complete destruction? Or do you still believe that Jesus teaches that you can have it some your way and some His way? Is your relationship with him superficial? Have you taken the time and effort to dig deep or is that just too high of a price for you? Is it just easier and more instantly gratifying to just have a house that looks like everyone elses in the neighborhood?

I pray that this will lead you to establish your foundation with Christ. And if you have that foundation, I pray that you will continue to put His words into action. I pray that when the storms pass that we will all be standing on solid ground, having endured through Jesus; not watching pieces of our house become carried away by the torrents of life, ending in complete destruction.