The Two Foundations, Part 2 — A ‘Time With God’ Devotion

All this week, John North takes us through the story of the wise and foolish builders, as shared by Jesus.

Matthew 7:24-29 show us Jesus telling a parable about the difference between a wise and foolish builder was in where they placed their foundation.

“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.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

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Transcript

Good morning,

We’re talking this week about the two foundations that you can choose to build your life on, right? I hope you understand that you are building your life.

Life doesn’t just happen. You make choices that shape your life, right? You’re building your life. Well, the most important thing in building anything is the foundation that you lay. What foundation are you building your life on? Here’s why that’s important.

Everybody’s house looks great when the weather is fine.

Right, when things are going great in your life, sweet, it doesn’t matter what foundation you’ve built, right? Life is good, life is fun, life is happy. You’ve got a good job, you’ve got the money, you’re paying your bills. Everything’s great, your health is good. I mean, life is good, right? It doesn’t matter your foundation then. But the storms are coming.

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And the storms are what show how good your foundation is. So in the story we’re looking at this week that Jesus told, he painted this word picture. He said, every one who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

A couple of verses later, he says that everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. Well, both these houses were awesome when the weather was good, right? You can’t tell the foundation, and there’s lots of people in your life. You look at them on the surface, everything just seems great, right?

And it’s not until calamity comes and one thing piles up on top of another, and it seems like storms come like that, don’t they? One wave is followed by an even bigger wave, and then there’s another wave, and you find yourself struggling. There’s no ground left underneath your feet, and you’re struggling to keep your head above water. Your life is falling apart. Then you know the quality of what this person’s life is like. What foundation they have built their life on.

The rain fell, Jesus said, and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house. And He says the house on the rock did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, the house on the sand, and it fell and great was the fall of it.

What foundations are you building your life on? I want to tell you, having experienced many, many terrible storms in my life. That the only foundation that will stand that, will carry you through the storms of life, the foundation God has prepared for you, given you to build your life on is His Word, and you acting on it, right? You acting on it.

The storms are coming. Well how do you build your life on God’s word?

Well, you need to build a habit every day – you open God’s Word, the Bible. Every day you stop and say, God, speak to me. Every day as you read, you’re not just reading the information on the page. Your heart is listening to what God might say to you. You’re asking the question, God, what are you showing me about yourself in this passage?

What are you showing me about myself in this passage? What are you calling me to change in my life? What promises are you giving me that I can lean on as I obey you, as you dig deeper into God’s Word and allow it to shape your life. You’re building a foundation that is going to stand the test of the trials of life.

I’m John North.