“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24
No one else can live the life you’re building and you can’t live the life anyone else is building; but we’re all building. The question is, “Are you doing it wisely?” The answer depends on whether you’re building your life on a solid foundation. Jesus illustrated this point by describing two builders—one wise and the other foolish. The difference between the two isn’t about their intellect but their understanding.
While the first man wisely built on rock, the second man foolishly built on sand (vv25-27). You see, wisdom isn’t knowledge; it’s recognizing what to do with what you know. The foolish man just wanted to get his house up. He didn’t consider the unstable nature of his foundation, and his house couldn’t withstand the wind and the rain.
The wise man went to the expense of digging down before building up. He put in sweat equity and it paid off! “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built” (Luke 6:48).
Here’s the point—our lives can look similar outwardly yet have a crucial difference below the surface. You can even claim faith and attend church regularly, and still be a foolish builder. We each choose whether to base our lives on the Solid Rock—Jesus Christ—or on the shifting sands of personal preference and cultural acceptance (Deuteronomy 32:4; 1 Peter 2:6).
Today’s verse says that wisdom doesn’t come from just hearing God’s Word but also acting on it. And James tells us, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (1:22). Building your life on a solid foundation requires sweat equity. It requires following Christ in complete obedience.
So, what are you doing with what you know about God and His Word? Has He brought to mind an area of your life that’s not in total submission to Him? It’s foolish to ignore it; because at some point a storm will come and test your foundation. Going along with culture might be easier, but it’s shifting sand. Building your life on a solid foundation requires not just knowing what Jesus said, but doing it!