I misunderstood this passage of scripture for years!
““Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV.
It’s a powerful parable that I previously thought was encouragement to build my life on the rock, to ensure that no matter what came at me, I would still be standing tall.
I even tried to build my relationships on this rock, to remind myself to make a good foundation in the beginning so the marriage wouldn’t fall apart later.
God just opened my eyes…
I WAS all WRONG!
This passage of scripture has nothing to do with the stability of my life, my friendships, my health, my talents, my businesses, my careers or romantic relationships!
This scripture, I took out of it’s context and that is what led to my confusion; after the formula ended up not working for me!
I tried building a relationship on the rock, and the relationship still crumbled because I alone couldn’t build a relationship on the rock.
My life plan, I tried to build on the rock… it fell apart, over and over again!
It’s because I was never meant to build my life on the rock!
My life is NOT the house that Jesus was talking about!
In order to know what house Jesus was talking about, we need to put this scripture back in context.
I encourage you to read the following chapters if you really want clarity!
Let’s read Matthew 5-7.
Jesus teaches who will be in the Kingdom of Heaven – Matthew 5:1-12.
What believers should be in the earth – Matthew 5:13-16.
Confirming the importance of the law – Matthew 5:17-20.
From verses 21 to 48,
Jesus shows us how each law is first broken in our hearts,
before we ever commit the action of sin.
Hatred leads to murder - Matthew 5:21-26.
Lustful desire leads to cheating – Matthew 5:27-30.
God takes marriage seriously – Matthew 5:31-32.
Futility of human oaths – Matthew 5:33-37.
Going the extra mile for others – Matthew 5:38-42.
Loving your enemies – Matthew 5:43-48.
Then, Jesus teaches on
having the faith to do works without worldly recognition,
how to trust in God instead of the world and
how to pray to God.
Not doing good deeds for recognition – Matthew 6:1-4.
Praying sincerely not to look religiously impressive to people – Matthew 6:5-8.
Framework for sincere prayers – Matthew 6:9-15.
Fasting honestly, not for worldly affirmation – Matthew 6:16-18.
Where you should place your value – Matthew 6:19-21.
What we consume visually affects our souls – Matthew 6:22-23.
You can’t love material things and God – Matthew 6:24.
Worrying won’t profit anything – Matthew 6:25-34.
Don’t judge others in a manner you wouldn’t want to be judged – Matthew 7:1-6.
God gives to those who ask – Matthew 7:7-12.
The right path is not the popular path – Matthew 7:13-14.
How to spot a false prophet – Matthew 7:15-20.
Only those who do God’s will, enter the Kingdom – Matthew 7:21-23.
Verse 24 starts with a very important word…
THEREFORE!
““Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:”
Matthew 7:24 NKJV.
Jesus is saying that whoever follows the instructions, that He just offered throughout these few chapters, will be like the house he mentioned in the parable!
The instructions spoken of in the previous chapters, actually paints a picture of this house.
So, let’s look at what Jesus said in the previous chapters!
There is a pattern in everything that Jesus just talked about…
The instructions had NOTHING to do with circumstances, they only referred to each person’s faith!
So the house Jesus is referring to, is not life, relationships, purpose, etc.…
The house Jesus is talking about is
our faith!
“Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.””
Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
