Mat 7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." NIV
Early in his account of the life and teachings of Jesus, Matthew shares what we now call the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus concluded that sermon with the above words about the importance of having the good foundation of practicing what Jesus preached.
Jesus did not give sermons for entertainment purposes. He didn't give them to impress people and get as many people as possible to follow Him as their leader. He taught to speak the truth so that those who would accept the truth could be prepared for what was coming in the future, both the near future and in future of eternity.
The people who hear the words of Jesus, either back when He spoke them, or after they were written for us in the Bible, can choose to either seek to put His words into practice or reject and ignore them.
The words of Jesus are not easy to accept. He calls for righteousness that exceeds merely keeping a set of rules. He even wants us to love and do good to the people we very much don't like. The only one to ever fully live up to His standards is Jesus Himself. But those are still the standards He calls us to.
Is that fair? After all, we're not God in the flesh, we're sinners saved by grace.
Well, He knows that. That's why He died on the cross to pay the price for our sinning both when we do so intentionally and when we do so even when we try our best not to sin.
But He did more for us than pay the price for our rebellion and sin. He also empowers us with the Holy Spirit to help us turn away from sin and in His strength do what He wants.
Before Jesus returned to heaven He told His followers that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came to them. (Acts 1:8) The Holy Spirit is still available to help those who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord to do and say what God wants them to do and say.
What does God want us to do and say? We can find out by reading Scripture, especially the New Testament. The religious leaders of Jesus day read the Old Testament and had a limited understanding of it. When God came in the flesh and taught them clearly, most of them rejected what He said. They were too proud to admit that their understanding of Scripture was limited or accept that their own man made religiosity could be contradictory to the will of God.
The words of Jesus are the words of the Creator of all that was created. He knows the purpose for everything including the purpose for people. As I wrote earlier, the words He has for us are not to entertain us, or impress us, or for us to be puffed up with how smart we'll be if we learn them.
The words of Jesus are to be heard and then be put into practice. To be successful at putting them into practice we'll need the Holy Spirit, which Jesus gladly gives to live within us. (Luke 11:13, John 14:17)
I don't want to be foolish. I want to know the words of Jesus and I want to put them into practice. So I'll keep reading the Bible, and using good Bible study materials, and seeking the help of the Holy Spirit do what Jesus tells me to do through what He teaches in Scripture.
I hope those who read this will seek to be wise rather than foolish. There are eternal consequences.
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