If you were considering to build a new home would you try to locate a piece of land which had very poor, weak and unstable soil? If you had any common sense you would not, but if you did decide to go ahead and build on this type of land knowing the consequences then you are just being dumb. Well at the end of Jesus’s sermon on the mount (Matthew 7:24-27)he identifies two types of individuals, a wise person and a foolish person. Jesus is addressing his disciples and a large crowd that came to hear him and ends his sermon by teaching them that whoever hears his words and does them is like a wiseman which built his house on the rock, but the person who hears his words and does not do them is like a foolish man which built his house on the sand. So both individuals built homes, both homes eventually experienced some threatening weather and as a result only the house built on the strong rock foundation was standing, the house built on the weak unstable sand foundation came crashing down. Would you really have to warn people, who came to hear Jesus and saw him in the flesh, that they do what he says do? I wonder how many people today would think-If Jesus appeared to me today and told me to do something I would obey him without question. But if we are not doing what he ALREADY said to do we are kidding ourselves. Evidently Jesus knew that some of his very own followers would hear what he has to say and not do any of it, Jesus called these people foolish. So if you are not doing what you are being taught by Jesus, who’s teachings, sayings, words are you living by? Now just because you are a believer and go to church every week does not mean that this does not apply to you. As we already established Jesus is talking to people who came to hear him, these are his followers, you could say people that go to church every Sunday. I think a lot of times when we read this part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount we look at it from a broader view and think, well yes I’m a christian so my life is built on a solid, strong foundation. But Jesus did not say if you acknowledge me as Lord you are like a wise man whose house is built on a rock. He said those who HEAR his word and DO his word. Remember this was the end of a very, lengthy sermon in which Jesus taught and covered many subjects, so we need to ask ourselves- are we doing every single thing he taught? That may be our aim and intention but the truth is many of us christians have heard the teachings of Jesus and our DOING something completely different. In every single aspect of life we have a choice between building our lives on a strong, solid foundation or a weak, unstable foundation. In other words doing what Jesus said or what somebody else said, it really is that simple. Whether we have realized that or not our lives have either been built on the words of Jesus or some other teachings. It could be something you were taught growing up, something you just thought up or a saying you heard all your life. This is where we need to be on guard because you can hear something that sounds good and maybe everyone around you accepts and believes it as “gospel” but it’s something completely against or not even in the Scriptures. For example a bad thing happens to someone, maybe their life is falling apart and you’ll often hear people say- Well everything happens for a reason- What does that even mean? That’s like saying when it rains outside the grass gets wet...okay so what’s your point? Of course everything happens for a reason but the reason could be we made a stupid mistake, like building on a weak, unstable foundation. The reason could be we didn’t pray and hear from God, or we disobeyed God or maybe we just did the wrong thing because of a lack of knowledge. Could it be that we left a door open to the devil somewhere, or maybe we weren’t on guard and the devil came in like a roaring lion and devoured us? When people say-Everything happens for a reason- they are trying to imply that regardless of what caused the disaster in our life, it is the will of God and so we just have to accept it, taking away any responsibility from ourselves. It’s like saying- Yeah I know I was texting while driving, got in a car accident and totalled my only vehicle but I just believe everything happens for a reason-do you see how ridiculous that is? My point is many are building their lives on sayings and teachings that are completely unscriptural. And In this social media age there is no shortage of people with something to say. Everyone's an expert on everything, every other person is a motivational speaker, relationship expert and lifeStyle guru. You can scan through your news feed at just about anytime and find an inspirational poster quote, advice and tips about everything under the sun. But after reading something like this have you ever asked yourself- Says who? What is this based on? Just because it sounds good should I actually build my life on it? Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, just before he teaches about the wise and foolish builders, “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 who is in heaven”. Let’s wise-up and build our lives on the solid rock foundation of the Word of God so when life’s storms come we’ll still be standing.