Last week we spoke of the fact that everyone of us face storms in our lives. The way to survive the storms we face is to be anchored in Jesus. Jesus himself spoke of storms and how to stand strong through them.
Let’s read Matthew 7:24-27 together. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. 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. 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.”
Jesus compares two men who built houses. One built his on the rock, a solid foundation. The second man built his house on the sand. I’m reminded of houses that stand on the beach. In June of 2025 our family rented a VRBO on the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was a beautiful large home that held the 14 of us comfortably. The backyard was beach. A place to play, swim, surf fish, and look for shells. Later in the fall the winds blew, and the water rose. I saw pictures of that house and it looked very different. The sand in the front of the house had been washed away. The beach behind the house was gone. Ocean water was up to the back of the house. The house stood but many around it fell. We are talking very expensive homes simply washed away because their footing was sand.
Wouldn’t you rather have a house built on a solid foundation? A house solidly built on a strong foundation such as rock has a much better chance of standing despite the rain, floods, and powerful winds.
In Jesus parable he tells us that there are two types of people. Both hear the words of the Lord. However, they don’t both follow or obey those words. The one who hears Jesus and establishes his life on those words, Jesus says is like the man who built his house on the rock. He has heard, disciplined himself to respond to Jesus’ words. He wasn’t a phony or superficial Christian. He was the real deal. He knows that apart from Christ he is nothing. He has repented of his sins and knows the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for him. That solid foundation helps the house to stand through the storm. Having your life built on the truth of the scriptures gives strength to stand no matter what.
This reminds me of what we read in James 1:22-25, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
The other man Jesus speaks of has also heard the words of Jesus, but he doesn’t follow through and do the things Jesus spoke of. Jesus says he is like the man who built his house on the sand and when the storms came that house fell hard. This man’s failure is not caused by ignorance but because he ignored what Jesus said. He is taken up by the powers of this world. He is easily deceived by the lies of the evil one. The foundation of his life is like sinking sand.
These two men may look the same when you see them. Their houses may look similar. What we don’t always see is that their lives are structured differently. The one follows the instructions. The other knows he is pretty good, he’s filled with pride, so he does things his way. When the storms of life come, we begin to see the differences between the two. The immediate differences are not always apparent but as time moves along the person who has staked their life on Jesus stands strong. The person who has walked his own way not paying attention to Jesus’ words begins to sink under the weight of his sin and disbelief. His life is like the house built on the beach. It stands today but the storms have brought destruction closer. Eventually his life is swallowed up and he can no longer stand and collapses like many others who have built their lives on the sand.
This parable of the two houses and the storms comes as Jesus is summing up the sermon on the mount, which covers Matthew 5 through 7. He has given much instruction to those present on how to live. He gives us instruction in His Word today. What will our response be? Will we be hearers of the Word and live it or will we ignore what has been said and forge our own way?
When we live His way, we will receive much blessing. If we live disregarding Jesus’ Words, we will come under the influence of the evil one and will be destroyed.
Remember these words Jesus spoke in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
The Word is clear, build your life on solid ground. Build your life on the Rock, Jesus.
In Christ
David ‘PK’ VanderKlay