Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
Jesus does not say that everyone who follows the moral principles contained in his words will be like a wise man. It is not simply that he lays down a set of rules to be followed. Rather, what is important is listening to him and obeying him.
There are two extremes to be avoided. The first is to say to him, 'Lord, Lord' and then not do what he tells us.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
This sort of person is using the Lord as an excuse to get him off the hook for doing any work. He may claim to have faith. But it is hard to see how that could be the case if he doesn't believe Jesus enough to obey what he is told by him.
The second type of extreme to be avoided is seen in a person who wants only the list of what he must do and who will then go off and do it as if Jesus played no part. He believes that there are rules which are more important than Jesus, which can be followed without his help, and whose specifics can be determined apart from his aid. But Jesus wasn't simply trying to create people who were good followers of the rules. He was trying to create good disciples, people who could listen to him and act.
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (see John 6:29).
The work Jesus asks of us is contained entirely in our belief in him. It is realized by those who say that Jesus is Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit (see First Corinthians 12:3) and not merely in a insincere acknowledgement designed to shift the focus away from one's disobedience.
It is only true that we build on rock to the degree that we build by faith. It is only if our work is really the Lord working in us and through us that the results can last. And this is something no set of rules can even encompass sufficiently. It is can only come from a dynamic relationship of trust with the Lord who guides us.
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain (see Psalm 127:1)
Obedience might still seem to leave a lot up to us. But this isn't really the case if we are acting by faith in response to the words of Jesus. Even if what he asks seems humanly impossible we learn that responding to him is what matters. We learn to surrender our own blueprints to him, even our more practical revisions on his initial designs. By obeying dynamically, even and especially when it goes beyond our own understanding, we learn that his promises are rock solid.
”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.
No comments:
Post a Comment