“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. 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. 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. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
Which words did Jesus refer to? “These words,” the words He had just spoken in the past few hours during the Sermon on the Mount. He compared our obedience to a man who builds a house. When we are born again and start our relationship with the Lord, we build ourselves a spiritual house, a haven. “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him,’” (John 14:23).
Our relationship with Jesus and
Father is our home, our protection against the storms of life. To paraphrase
Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:24-27: “I have spent several hours teaching you the
rules of My Kingdom. If you obey and apply what I’m teaching you, I will be
pleased with you, and you will be secure in me. You will have a stable,
powerful life and ministry. But if you ignore my teaching, I cannot protect you
against the storms of life or the onslaughts of the evil one. At that point,
you have sinned, and the Father and I can’t live in the same house with sin. If
you continue to disobey my teaching, your fall will be great in the end.”
This great teaching of Jesus is the fulfilment of the law. Many Christians believe that they must
It is now time for complete honesty.
To what degree have you put Jesus’ teachings into practice? Take a few moments
of silence before the Lord to consider this. Look into your heart and find the
courage to apply what you have learned and see what difference it will make in
your relationship to God and the world around you. Don’t wait until you feel
like doing what the Lord expects of you to do; just do it. The flesh never
feels like doing what the Spirit wants. It would not be easy for the flesh to
obey, but if you overcome the resistance and just do what God expects of you,
your flesh might be angry, but your spirit will be refreshed.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. (Matthew 7:28, 29)
How do you teach? Do you repeat traditional information that you have heard two-and-plenty years ago, or do you teach what the Holy Spirit reveals to you? Do you think you are not a teacher? Then maybe it is time to start obeying Christ’s command in Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
All of us teach (or should teach)
some time or another. Talking about the Lord in a casual conversation involves
teaching. Much of our teaching comes from our own experiences with the Lord. All of
us should make use of every opportunity to teach.
When anointed teachers instruct on
revelation from the Holy Spirit, as well as when we teach experience knowledge,
we teach like Jesus did. When we teach religion, we are like the teachers of
the law. Therefore, we need to hear from the Lord all the time, because He
wants to teach His people through His disciples and servants.
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