Tuesday, 27 February 2018

The wise man and the foolish man


Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. – Matthew 7.24-27
(Mat 7:24-27)

Here is yet another passage of scripture which has become part of children’s work culture. It is as popular with kids now as it was 40 or so years ago when we first started working with children.

Here it is for any who may not know it:

The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the house on the rock stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the house on the sand went "splat!" [clap hands once]

So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
And the blessings will come down

Oh, the blessings will come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings will come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings will come down
As your prayer go up
So build your house on the Lord

This children’s son, like so many of those songs, has a great eternal message. The wise man built his life on the one Great Foundation, the Rock, and that Rock is Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation that has eternal benefit. It is the foundation that will stand no matter how bad the storm.

The other option is the foolish man’s choice. It is okay, but when the storm comes the foundation will wash away and everything will collapse. All the stuff we build our lives on today will pass away.

There is no other foundation that can be laid than that which is laid in Christ.

So ‘build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ.’

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