Build Your House On The Rock

Matthew 7:24-25 -  “Whoever hears these words of Mine and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain came down. The water came up. The wind blew and hit the house. The house did not fall because it was built on rock.

 

Jesus brought to a close the time he spent teaching them on the mountain.  He continued the theme of humility as he spoke to them about fixing their own problems before judging others….making sure that your deepest conversations about holy things were with those that shared the faith….asking for good things…treating others the way we want to be treated…realizing that the entrance to Heaven is a small gate that requires constant work for the Lord…and guarding our hearts and minds against the many false prophets that would arise to confuse the truth. Just being religious was not enough…..our walk has to math our talk.

 

He concluded this important time with an illustration they would all understand.  He told them that they should think of God as their rock…to be wise and build only on that foundation.  God was the sturdiest thing that they could pin their hopes and future on….nothing that was built on Him would ever be blown away or destroyed.

 

Samuel called God the Holy rock in 1 Samuel 2:2…He said…. “There is no one holy like the Lord. For sure, there is no one other than You. There is no rock like our God.” Jacob blessed his son Joseph in Genesis 49…he called him a fruitful tree….completely connected to the rock that was God. Moses drew water for the people of Israel from the rock God told him to strike in Exodus 17.  God told Moses to protect his eyes in the clef of the rock as he passed by to show Moses His glory in Exodus 33.  Gideon watched as fire came out of the rock he was using as an altar and consumed the meat and bread he offered as a sacrifice in Judges 6.

 

I had one last thought when I read through the 156 references to the word rock in the Bible….and got to this one in 1 Peter 2:8. It says… “The Holy Writings say, also, “Christ is the Stone that some men will trip over and the Rock over which they will fall.” When they do not obey the Word of God, they trip over it. This is what happens to such men.”  God told us to build on the rock…not try to climb away from His protection.  I was convicted instantly of the many times I have tripped over God trying to manipulate his commands to fit my own selfish needs.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that You are to be the rock on which I build everything in my life. Forgive me for the times that I went my own way and chose sand that blew straight away under my feet.  Forgive me also for the times that I tripped foolishly over the very rock to were trying to give me a foothold on because my eyes were fixed on my own selfish needs instead of your will and purpose for my life.  Help me to see clearly the rock that you want to be for me…so that the house I build will be the house that You want me to build for You.  Amen.