Jesus said to his disciples:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
It is not enough to hear the words of Jesus. Simply having been aware of them and in proximity to them is insufficient. We won't be able to protest, "'Lord, Lord,'" or say, "'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets'" (see Luke 13:26). His words call us to make a response. And it is in that response that we find security and salvation. But what is that response, or what is the will of his Father to which he calls us?
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (see John 6:39-40).
Similarly, when asked how one could accomplish the work of God, Jesus replied, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (see John 6:29). But this belief is more than a mere passive receptivity. It is distinct from merely hearing the word of God, because believing tends toward our sanctification. Paul confirmed this when writing to the Thessalonians: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (see First Thessalonians 4:3).
It is simply the case that the eventual outcome of sanctification is unachievable without responding to Jesus with faith and making that relationship the center of our lives. All other paths besides the will of the Father for us are ill-advised building projects that will not be able to weather the storms of life. Even trying to achieve the Father's purpose for us without the rock solid stability we find in Christ is nothing but a recipe for frustration and failure.
Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
We are to act on the words of Jesus not simply as commanded by Jesus but also as empowered by him through our faith. When we do this we come to experience in some measure the rock solid stability promised to the Church founded on Peter.
Apart from God we lack wisdom. We build, but only with a narrow and myopic purpose that isn't prepared for future contingencies. We live, but we direct our lives toward temporary things that cannot give lasting peace. But the words of Jesus impart spiritual power, including the Spirit's own gift of wisdom. This enables us to build with the same divine power as Wisdom herself.
Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars (Proverbs 9:1).
If we desire to be the "nation of firm purpose" that God keeps in peace we must trust him, just as Isaiah says, "in peace, for its trust in you". Trusting God in this way means not trusting in our flesh, in our own strength apart from him, but rather in embracing humility. We build well only when he empowers us. We build wisely only when he grants us wisdom.
Trust in the LORD forever!
For the LORD is an eternal Rock.
He humbles those in high places,
and the lofty city he brings down;
He tumbles it to the ground,
levels it with the dust.
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