Daily Maintenance

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT)

The obvious lesson in this famous teaching of Jesus is obedience. Hearing and doing enjoy a sturdy foundation. And the converse is just as true…hearing alone without action leads to a foundation that changes with the ocean tide. But I want to look at this passage from another angle. What if there isn’t even a house in the picture? Without a structure there is no use for any kind of foundation! You see, the ‘building’ portion of this passage is a verb. It requires action. And that action is being in God’s Word. Without daily devotions, we are not listening to Jesus’ teaching. Sunday mornings are not enough. You can’t build a house working only two hours a week! A builder cannot poor concrete into holes for the foundation, and come back a week later to insert mounting brackets. The concrete will be completely solid. For the same reason, we cannot listen to God’s Word for two hours a week, do nothing else, and then expect our lives to continue build stronger with Jesus. It just doesn’t work.
His Word (teaching) is the solid foundation…it NEVER changes! But the structure we place on it….well…..that requires daily work & daily maintenance.