“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t
work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house
on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed
like a house of cards.”
When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into
applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was
living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers!
This was the best teaching they had ever heard. Matthew
7:24-29
As promised, we talk about how Jesus leads us into
hope. The scripture above is a wonderful
explanation of that. Let me give you the
more traditional rendering of those last couple of verses:
“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.” (v.
28-29, NIV)
“As one who had authority.”
You know when you encounter someone who has natural authority. My Father-in-law was one of those people for
me. Many tales are told of his seemingly
inherent authority that most people never questioned. He was once in an airport taking a huge box
with a dental chair inside through customs in order to take it to Haiti on a
mission trip. When the customs official
went to stop him, he simply raised his hand toward him and said aloud, “it’s
okay.” The official let them through
without inspection. That doesn’t ever
happen. I know. But it did for my
Father-in-law. That’s just one story.
Our family has dozens more. But I won’t
bore you with them.
Ok, you talked me into one more. When Bob, (my Father-in-law) was a little
kid, he was riding in a car with his mother and two aunts. Bobby, as he was known then, decided that
everyone was in the wrong seats in the car and they needed to stop. Unbelievably, his mother stopped the car,
they all got out and Bobby told them all where to sit. This actually happened. Bobby was “one who had authority.”
As one who knew and revered Big Daddy (what everyone called
my father-in-law after he had grandkids), I can only imagine the disciples
experience of Jesus that day as he experienced His teaching. I revered Big Daddy because he was usually
right, but Jesus was ALWAYS right. I
followed Big Daddy’s advice because it was practical and down to earth. However, no one’s instruction has ever been
more down-to-earth and practical than the advice Jesus gave. You can build a life on that kind of
instruction. Of course, that was Jesus’s
teaching that very day. You SHOULD build
your life on that teaching, because Jesus teaching is a solid rock on which to
stand. If you’re going to build your
hope on something, it should be that.
Hey wait. I think that’s a song.
More on that in a minute. But
right now, Jesus leads us into hope when we build our lives on His
teaching. There….my promise is
kept. See you tomorrow.
Prayer: Jesus, our
hope is built on you. To the extent that
it isn’t, help us rebuild the foundation.
We want to weather the storms. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for God to raise up leaders who lead “as one with authority.”
Song: 2 songs today:
Phil Wickham (Living Hope)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-1fwZtKJSM
My Hope is Built
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