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In Matthew 7, Jesus told a story about two men. He called one of them “wise,” and the other one He called “foolish.” What was the difference in these men? What made one of them wise, and the other one foolish?
In His story, Jesus said that both men had built a house. When the wise man built his house, he made sure that it had a strong base known as a “foundation.” Even today houses are built on some kind of foundation. Most of the time, the foundation is made of concrete so it can hold up the house. Jesus said that when the wise man’s house was finished, a big storm hit it. The rain fell, the winds blew, and the floods came. But, the wise man’s house stood firm. He was “wise” because he had built his house on a strong foundation.
However, in His story Jesus said that the foolish man had built his house on a foundation of nothing but sand. So, when the storm came with its rains, winds, and floods, the foolish man’s house fell down. The house could not stand against the storm because its foundation was too weak.
Why did Jesus tell this story? Did He just want to teach people how to build strong houses? No, Jesus was teaching people how to build strong lives. We build a strong life by making sure that we are Christians and by doing what Jesus tells us to do.
If we obey Jesus, then our lives will be on a good foundation. That way, when bad things happen to us, our faith in God can stand firm. For example, what if someone treats us bad or is ugly to us? What if we get hurt in an accident? Or what if someone we love dies? Bad things can happen to all of us at any time.
I used to have a dog named Cooper. But he got run over and died. I was very sad because I loved Cooper a lot. My mom was sad, too. But my mom is a Christian, which means that she has a strong faith in God and His Word as her foundation. She is teaching me to have a strong faith, too, so that one day I can become a faithful Christian. That way, when bad things happen, I can know that I will be all right because God has promised to take care of me. In Hebrews 13:5, God said, “I will never leave you, so that you can say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.’ ” I know that no matter what happens, God will always take care of me. That gives me a good, strong foundation for my faith.
If our faith in God grows weak, we might not want to be Christians any more. And if we stop being Christians, we cannot go to heaven. So, each person must be like the wise man in the story that Jesus told. We must build our lives on the strong foundation of Jesus and His teachings. We must obey God and His Word. If we do that, then we will be wise, not foolish. No one wants to be foolish, do they?