August 27, 2023 HEARING AND ACTING
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.”
In Matthew we find the familiar parable where Jesus exposes the foolishness of building a house upon the sand and the wisdom of building a house upon the rock. Obviously, the house built upon the rock survived the heavy rains, the flood and the winds, whereas the house built upon the sand did not withstand the storms. The obvious point Jesus was making was that if we are hearing the words of Jesus and building on His words-the word of God-our work will survive the storms; but if we hear His words and do not act on them, what we are building will crash when the storms come. We are all building a house; we must be careful how we build as the quality of what we build will be judged. A house must have a solid foundation in order to stand against the storms; Jesus is the rock, He is the sure foundation. A house may look really great, but if the foundation is faulty or unstable, it is simply a matter of time before it falls or becomes unlivable. It is abundantly clear form many scriptures that we are not only to hear the words of Jesus, but we are to act on and obey the words of Christ. Intentions to obey the words and the commands of Jesus are no substitute for obeying; intentions produce no good fruit-it’s the action that matters. Of course we do not obey His words in order to be saved or to gain His approval and love; we obey Him because He loves us and we love Him, because He is Lord, and because it is the only wise thing to do. We must be on guard for hearing His word and agreeing with it, and then not acting on it. For many, information and knowledge is king; this is even true in Christian circles. We may think that by ‘knowing God’s word’ we are good. The truth is that one may have extensive knowledge of the word of God and yet what He is building will not stand when the storms and the trials come if he is not obeying the words of God. Let’s look at just one example: Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. We first must hear those words, but then act on it by actually being or becoming a giver; there are many ways to give, including giving our time, out of our resources, or giving words that build up and encourage. Let us be quick to hear and also quick to act on the words of Jesus; by doing so, we will be wise builders and what we are building will survive the storms as well as the test of time.
John 14:21 “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”
Blessing, Buddy
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.”
In Matthew we find the familiar parable where Jesus exposes the foolishness of building a house upon the sand and the wisdom of building a house upon the rock. Obviously, the house built upon the rock survived the heavy rains, the flood and the winds, whereas the house built upon the sand did not withstand the storms. The obvious point Jesus was making was that if we are hearing the words of Jesus and building on His words-the word of God-our work will survive the storms; but if we hear His words and do not act on them, what we are building will crash when the storms come. We are all building a house; we must be careful how we build as the quality of what we build will be judged. A house must have a solid foundation in order to stand against the storms; Jesus is the rock, He is the sure foundation. A house may look really great, but if the foundation is faulty or unstable, it is simply a matter of time before it falls or becomes unlivable. It is abundantly clear form many scriptures that we are not only to hear the words of Jesus, but we are to act on and obey the words of Christ. Intentions to obey the words and the commands of Jesus are no substitute for obeying; intentions produce no good fruit-it’s the action that matters. Of course we do not obey His words in order to be saved or to gain His approval and love; we obey Him because He loves us and we love Him, because He is Lord, and because it is the only wise thing to do. We must be on guard for hearing His word and agreeing with it, and then not acting on it. For many, information and knowledge is king; this is even true in Christian circles. We may think that by ‘knowing God’s word’ we are good. The truth is that one may have extensive knowledge of the word of God and yet what He is building will not stand when the storms and the trials come if he is not obeying the words of God. Let’s look at just one example: Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. We first must hear those words, but then act on it by actually being or becoming a giver; there are many ways to give, including giving our time, out of our resources, or giving words that build up and encourage. Let us be quick to hear and also quick to act on the words of Jesus; by doing so, we will be wise builders and what we are building will survive the storms as well as the test of time.
John 14:21 “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”
Blessing, Buddy
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