House on the Rock and Sand

  Mat 7:24-27 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

  We could say that life is a cycle of joy and sorrow. and I suppose eventually we come to value the joy and happiness we experience in a different stages of our lives, like friendships, achievements, success and a host of other things- for the main reason that the experience will just have to end at some point or that they lose value either by departure or simply due to the passing of time and aging. These are absolutely beyond our control being creatures bounded by time, change and deterioration.

  Mat 7:25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house

  The rain, the flood and the winds (including earthquakes) are also cycles of nature and time beyond our control, they eventually come..unexpectedly and suddenly most of the time. After sunshine, comes rain or more correctly in a Philippine setting - we say "after the sunshine comes the typhoon".

  But Jesus gives us a promise that those who are his - specifically "those who HEARS His words and DOES them" (v24) - which is equated as "the rock" or solid foundation- will never fall. Note that in this context the "rock" for the house parable is the "hearing and doing of Christ's words", not simply Christ himself which many has wrongly taken out of context. There is even a song about it "On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking stand"- correct lyrics, but that is NOT the context here.  Notice the contrast in v26 “and DOES NOT do them” which equates to the "sand"- a poor foundation.

  Hearing alone is not sufficient, WE MUST ACT on what we heard - and these comprises the solid foundation in which we build the house for it to withstand the challenges life gives us. Hindi bible study lamang kundi buhay na pagsunod - which in a way makes it a habit or devotion. Bible study alone will not usher you to maturity, you need to act. Involvement brings maturity.  If you would drive a car, you will have to know about the car. But that doesn't mean you already know how to drive. You will have to act on what you have learned by actually driving the car. The experience gives you a 'solid' understanding and develops a skill so you can handle driving at day and night, in developed or in dangerous roads.

  All sunshine makes a desert, all rain makes a flood. And it is in the balance of sunshine and rain that not only plants and trees grow in maturity, but people as well. We welcome it! Joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure, success and failure gives us a truly meaningful and rewarding life.  However like houses, trees will not survive the onslaught of wind and rain unless its roots are deep. Times of heavy sorrow, pain and suffering beyond our control are the very storms of life we have to face. In our case, we need to be dedicated in understanding scripture AND thereafter acting/believing on what we have understood any chance we get. Theory and practice = experience & maturity= sturdy foundation that will not fall. This foundation is built on the words of Christ.

Jas 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.