Testing in life reveals the kind of foundation a person has. In general, there are two kinds of foundations. One is the foundation on the rock, and the other one is the one on the sand.
Highlights:
- Life can never be storm-free, but it can always be stormproof.
- Application, not information, will determine your position in a situation.
- Comparison between the wise and foolish builder.
Jesus gave us a principle to make sure we will be able to stand amid the storm. And that principle is, apply what you heard. I don’t know what you are going through right now. Some of you may be experiencing a violent storm in your life like a strong wind of relationship issues is blowing in your life right now. Flood of financial difficulties is present, or landslides appear in your grades. Or maybe you are in perfect weather right now, but the last storm is still so vivid in your mind right now. I believe you can share a thing or two about the difficulties of life.
Life can never be storm-free, but it can always be stormproof. Interestingly, Jesus gave a powerful lesson regarding this topic. And this was mentioned in the latter part of the Sermon of the Mount.
As we all know, Jesus discussed a lot of kingdom principles in the sermon at the mount. On the same preaching, Jesus concluded this with a very familiar, simple, straight forward way, and as I rephrased his words, it goes something like this:
GO AND APPLY WHAT YOU HEARD
Now some of you might be thinking right now, why would Jesus end his sermon this way? Well, we know applying what we heard is essential, but why would he emphasize it. Now to answer this, let me give you our central point for this blog.
APPLICATION NOT INFORMATION DETERMINES YOUR POSITION IN A SITUATION
While information is vital, having information alone would be useless in the face of circumstance. It is futile in front of a difficult situation. Your application to what you know will determine your position in that situation.
Whether you will stand or fall will be determined by how much application you have done with the knowledge that you have. Matthew, in his account, documented this lesson.
Have you heard about this before?
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine. Matthew 7:24
Most of us, if not all, have heard Jesus’ words in His sermon at the mount. He said there is a path to true happiness in this life. And most of the time, this is counter-cultural. Blessed are you, meaning happy are you when you are meek or poor in Spirit. Happy, are you when you are a peacemaker. Jesus also talked about you being the salt and light of the earth. You can be preservative wherever you are. A guide to anyone’s path. That is who you are. He also mentioned that he is the fulfillment of the law.
We heard when Jesus clarifies the familiar Old Testament commands. We learned about the association between anger and murder or even the relation between lust and adultery.
He challenged his listener, to tell the truth, or love our enemy, no matter how difficult it is. Jesus instructed the believers to go the extra mile or giving our right cheek when somebody hit our left cheek. He even asked his audience to give their cloak when asked about their tunic.
We remember when Jesus tackles and clarifies certain activities about our relationship with God. Jesus mentioned that our righteousness should exceed those of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. He thought about the correct way of praying. That prayer is more than babbling of words and showmanship. It is an expression of dependence and humility.
Jesus also talks about a controversial statement like “the love of money is the root of all evil.” And of course, we discovered the opposite of worrying, which is trusting God. We have heard about these important words. But this is not enough. Let us read the remaining part of the verse.
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. Matthew 7:24
Jesus said any who hears the word and puts them into practice is like a wise man. He did not say, anyone who hears the word and posts them or tweets them is like a wise man. No. But anyone who put the words in practice is a wise man.
The key right here is application. While information is essential, we don’t belittle it. But knowledge alone is not enough. It is the application not information determines your position in a situation. Whether you will stand or fall in a given case will be determined by how much you are willing to practice the Words that you hear. Then Jesus gave an illustration to make sure everyone will get it.
Foundation 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. Matthew 7:25
So when the rain came down, difficulties in life came down, streams rose, not so good news greet you this week. Winds blew and beat against your house, not so favorable circumstances are happening in your life, but because you apply what you heard, you did not fall. You were able to stand because you had your foundation in the rock.
On the contrary, there is an illustration for people who just heard the word but chose not to apply it. In the next verse, it says:
Foundation on the Sand
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. Matthew 7:26
There is this story that I heard regarding this verse. I don’t know if this is true or not, but here it goes. One day before the father go to his office, he visited the room of his kids. As expected, it is messy, so he gave an instruction, “Clean your room.” Then he goes to his office, and after 10 hours, he came back. Guess what. The room is still messy.
But there is so much excitement with the kid. He approaches his dad, saying, “Daddy, I learned so much about your instruction. I invited my friends, and we did thorough research regarding the word clean, and you will be surprised. The Greek word of clean it has multiple meanings. Of course, when you mentioned “your room,” it creates a lot of confusion. If you are a parent right now, familiar sound, right?
But this is precisely how we will look like when we hear the word but did not put it into practice. We could be very deep in the Bible. But without application, we are like a foolish man who builds his house in the sand. Something unstable. Something that shifts as the wind blew it.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Matthew 7:27
So when the rain came down, you collapse, when the stream rose, you broke down, and the winds blew against the house it fell with a great crash. With all the information that you can get every time you attend Church Meetings, it would just be fitting to say that it is really “foolish” if you will not apply it.
There is always a principle for every situation in life
There is always a principle for every situation in life, no matter how difficult it is. When you experience a relational problem, Jesus said: “forgive.” Amid financial difficulty, Jesus said to seek first His kingdom. Jesus said, “Do not worry,” when your company is not doing well in the market. When you are having a problem in the school, Jesus said, “Ask, Seek and Knock.”
Jesus said, “you are the salt and light” When you don’t know what your role is in your company. If things are not going according to your expectations, Jesus said, “Walk the extra mile.” When somebody stirs up trouble in your life, Jesus said, “Love your enemy.” If lustful thoughts start to creeps in, Jesus said, “Don’t do that; it is adultery.” When anger starts to overwhelm you, Jesus said, “don’t do that; it is murder.” There are different principles applicable to different situations in life. The challenge for us is to apply what we heard.
Where are you going to build?
Be wise and not foolish. Be a doer, not just a listener. You can choose to stand or fall in a situation in the same manner that you can choose to apply what you heard or not.
Some of you might be asking, “Do you apply everything you hear in the church?” Sad to say, no. Most of the time, I am either stubborn, or I just forgot about the principle itself. That is why I allowed other people to be involved in my life. They help me prepare for the storm in life. The difficult circumstances of life do not exempt anyone. All we can do is to make sure we are ready when it happens.
CONCLUSION
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22
Let me land this message with the same challenge as James, the brother of Jesus, gave his readers. He said, do not merely listen to the word. In other words, do not just attend a service or attend only attend Bible Study. While it is essential in our Christian walk, do not just stop in the listening part. Do what it says. Apply what you heard. While information is vital, it is the application, not the information that determines your position in a situation. The question that I want to leave without tonight is this “Do you want to stand or fall? The application plays a critical role in this.
CREDITS/NOTES:
- Taken from the preaching of Redefined – Two Foundations.
- All verses are based on the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise stated.
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