Bible Reading for July 27 – Matthew 7:24-29

What does it mean to be truly wise? Unfortunately in our Western mindset, we tend to think of wisdom in exclusively intellectual terms. The wise, we think, are those who know a lot, those who have deep understanding, those who are not easily deceived. Our wise men are scientists and engineers of all kinds, those who know how the world works and who have devised ways of harnessing this knowledge for man’s use.

The ancient Hebrews had a different view of wisdom, one that Jesus demonstrates in this passage. For they knew that it is never sufficient to know the right thing – it is just as important to put it into practice. That’s why they referred to skilled craftsmen as having great wisdom – they took their knowledge and did something with it. Knowing the right thing but refusing to do it is what they called folly.

How many of us who call ourselves Christians are actually fools? Oh, so many of us know the truths of the gospel – that Jesus died to pay the complete sacrifice for our sins, that Jesus’ sacrifice has reconciled all His people to God, and that we gain access to this gracious gift by faith alone in Christ alone. We might even give intellectual assent to the fact that all authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to Jesus, so that as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords He deserves our complete and exclusive allegiance.

But if we know all this while we still ignore His clear commands, if we treat the work of Christ as nothing more than heavenly fire insurance which allows us to live exactly as we want to, if we imagine that we have no need to put His teachings into practice in our lives, well, what could be more foolish?

Jesus likens this sort of foolishness to someone who builds a house on the sand, without any firm foundation. In Mississippi, we might put it this way: a life that does not completely depend on Christ both as Savior and as Lord is just as flimsy as a trailer in a tornado.

How much better to live the way Jesus has told us to – lives of total devotion to God, lives that are focused on meeting the needs of others. For such a life will not only bring us the joy of knowing we are in close fellowship with God. Such a life will be sturdy enough to withstand the worst that life may send our way.

Matthew 7:24-29 (ESV)

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.