Practicing what you preach

Matthew 7:24-27 (New International Version)

The Wise and Foolish Builders

24"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. 25The 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. 26But 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. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

I've heard these words of Jesus many times, especially as a child. I even knew a song about it once. It's a classic really. Wise man builds his house upon rock and the foolish man on sand. When the storms come, there is only one winner!

But what I hadn't noticed until recently was what Jesus was actually saying in this story.

I always thought the wise man was the person who knew Jesus and had accepted him as their personal saviour. In other words, they had become a christian. The foolish man had not. But as I read it again recently, there is a little more to it than that.

"Everyone who hears these words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock."

So what are 'these words'?

Well this story comes at the end of Jesus' main teaching; the Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount has been described as Jesus' manifesto where he describes the Kingdom and how that looks on earth when lived out. He talks amongst other things about being salt and light, controlling anger, forgiveness, loving your enemies, giving to those in need, prayer, fasting, money, judging others, bearing fruit and what it means to be a true disciple. Some pretty radical stuff!

For us to build on solid foundations is not just to read and know the teachings of Jesus, but to put them into practice, which I find really challenging.

How often do I read the teachings of Jesus (particularly the Sermon on the Mount) and put them into practice?

Do I just pick the bits I like and ignore the parts that challenge me?

It seems clear that the call of Jesus to discipleship is not conventinal and doesn't always make sense to the world (just read through the Beatitudes), but it is what we need to do to survive the storms that come.

I like the fact that faith in Jesus is an active experience and not just a passive gaining of knowledge.

When Jesus asks us to follow Him, it implies that He is going somewhere that He wants us to go with Him to! The disciples were soon to find that the place we are to follow Jesus is to the cross where we must die to self and be raised in Him so that we may 'Go' to the Nations under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Before going, the disciples had to wait to be baptised by the Spirit as it would be Him that would fill, lead, guide and comfort the disciples.

The Holy Spirit living through them would enable them to practice what Jesus preached!

This is the same for us today. We may look at the Sermon on the Mount and think 'that's impossible to live out' and it is when we try in our own strength, which is why we need to die to self and allow Jesus to live in and through us by His spirit. It's costly and it will bring conflict inside of us, but history has shown that those who have truely died to self and followed Jesus to the cross have been raised to life and life to the full as Jesus through his spirit puts his preaching into practice through them.

My challenge for you is to ask Jesus to show you today what it means to die to self and ask Him to fill you by His Spirit so that you may be able to put into practice what you hear Him say and therefore build your life on solid foundations.