"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock." Matthew 7:12
We continue this week to focus on the commandments of God. Our first reading is from the book of Deuteronomy and Moses is speaking to the Israelites concerning the commandments and he offers them a blessing, and a curse: A blessing is they (we) obey the commandments of the Lord, and a curse if they (we) do not. As in all things, we have a choice. Moses makes a special point regarding “other gods, whom you have not known.” These gods are contrary to our God, the one true God, who freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and led them through the wilderness to the beautiful promised land they are about to enter and all the while caring for their every need of food, water and clothing. Moses makes this point strongly because the Israelites have angered God by worshipping other gods because they did not believe or trust what God said He would do for them.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus gives us a lesson on the powerful Word of God. This is the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus teaching is drawing to an end. He uses a house to symbolize our lives and says, “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 house built on rock will not fall down when wind, rain and floods occur. “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.” A house built on sand would not be stable and strong enough to withstand wind, rains and flood and would collapse.
The house is our lives. The rain, wind and floods are the trials and tribulations we face in our lives. The Word of God is the brick and mortar, the wood and nails, etc. that strengthen our foundations and our entire self so that we can withstand the hardships of our lives. For the Word of God to have this power we must hear it and take it into our hearts where it will change us and fortify us. We can hear the Word of God, or read the Word of God, but if we do not take it into our hearts it will not remain with us to give us the strength to withstand life and we will be in danger of falling away from God, and into ruin, just as the house built on sand, a weak and moving base to build a house on, was collapsed and completely ruined.
Our blessing of being a disciple of Jesus is the relationship we have with HIm. This relationship strengthens us for suffering we may experience and teaches us how to act, and speak as Jesus, and prepares us for eternal life.
Lent is very nearly upon us and we have an opportunity to make the choice between the blessing and the curse, between eternal life, or death. When we understand our choices, we are prepared to enter into the Lenten journey of repentance and forgiveness.
Our Psalm this week is Psalm 31: Lord Be My Rock of Safety
Have a blessed week!