Do you remember the story of the wise and foolish builders? I’ve always marveled at how beautifully and simply Jesus described the importance of faith as our rock. But somehow I’ve forfeited the fact that just agreeing with Jesus does not make us wise.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49, NIV, emphasis added)

We need to put the words of Jesus into practice, apply them to our lives, and build our whole life on this rock. Only then we are wise. Yet we tend to forget this part, thinking highly of Jesus does not make us followers of Christ, and hearing Jesus or agreeing with Jesus does not make us wise. Instead, we need to be doers of the Word. Then we are truly holding faith as our Rock.

How to hold faith as our Rock

Dabbling a little bit in the Gospel does not do much good. We can either believe it and apply what we believe to our lives or we can stop calling ourselves disciples of Christ. There is no middle ground here no matter how much we would like it to be so. We need to do what Jesus says. And do it whole-heartedly.

Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” (Luke 11:28, NLT, emphasis added)

So, there’s no way around it: we need to live our faith out. We need to follow the example of Jesus and do what he says. It is not easy but he provides the power for us to do so. There is no room for excuses. It is either-or. Either we hold faith as our rock or we don’t. The choice is ours.

At first, it might look like a tough choice. But the deeper you look into the matter, you realize it’s a matter of choosing life over death. And then it becomes easy. I want to choose life over death and light over darkness any day. I don’t want to have anything to do with the powers of death and darkness. I choose Jesus. And I hope you do too.

Let us pray

Dear God,
Thank you for giving us the Bible so we can learn to live the way you want us to live.
We surrender to you and ask you to empower us to live according to you will.
There is nothing more we want than to be truly yours.
Teach us to live our faith out in our daily lives.
We want to hold faith as our rock, nothing but Jesus will do.
Strengthen us, Lord, make us your true disciples.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

P.S.

I don’t know how many times I’ve read this parable yet it surprised me this time around. The foolish builder hears Jesus’ words yet he is still foolish. We surely do need to apply what we believe. Blessedly, God provides all we need to do so. We just need to cling to Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life!