Jesus 101: Where the Wise Build


Years ago, a friend told me about an interaction he had with someone who didn't go to church.  The non-churchgoer said, "I'm looking for something that will be the stack pole of my life!"

We non-farmers may not understand what he meant.  A stack pole is the center of a haystack.  It's what you stack all the hay on!  

So this non-churchgoer was looking for something to build his life on.  Something that would hold up over time.

In Matthew 7:24-29, Jesus used different images to talk about the same idea.  Instead of talking about a stack pole, he talked about wise and foolish builders.  

The wise builder built his house on rock.  A terrible storm came.   The rain came down, the waters rose, and the wind blew.  But the house stood because it was built on rock.

The foolish builder built his house on sand.  When the storm came, it came crashing down!

Many teachers say the rock is Jesus.  That's partially true.  But it's more than that.

Jesus said the wise man represents those who hear his teachings and put them into practice!  

Faith in Jesus is vitally important.  Admiring and worshiping him are as well.  But at last, we're to live like Jesus.  We're to imitate him and put his teachings into practice.

Someone once said, "There are 100 patrons of virtue to one virtuous person."  

We could say something similar in relation to Christ.  There are 100 admirers of Christ to one Christ follower!

Admire Christ.  Love him.  Worship him.  But go beyond these and follow him, putting his words into practice all day, every day!

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