Where Is Your House Built?
Let’s chat about where you put your trust in this life. Jesus was a builder while He was on earth, and he shared with us a parable about the importance of where we build our spiritual house. What do we trust to keep us steadfast in the storms of life?
I have lived in four houses as an adult. Bobby and I built the middle two. And we LOVE building a home together! For us, planning and then seeing our plans take shape is thrilling! Jesus talked about building houses too! No wonder, while He was here on earth he was a builder.
The Carpenter
I love the idea that Jesus was an earthly builder! The Bible says He was a carpenter (Mark 6:2-3).
The word “carpenter” is really the word tekton in Greek which carries the idea of being a builder or a craftsman using any type of material.
We think of Jesus using wood primarily because of our Western thinking.
If you have been to Israel there were far more rocks and boulders than wood!
When I studied the book of Mark and I came across a couple beautiful verses as I was cross-referencing a passage…
“WHY DO YOU CALL ME ‘LORD, LORD,’ AND NOT DO WHAT I TELL YOU? EVERYONE WHO COME TO ME AND HEARS MY WORDS AND DOES THEM, I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT HE IS LIKE:
HE IS LIKE A MAN BUILDING A HOUSE, WHO DUG DEEP AND LAID THE FOUNDATION ON A ROCK. AND WHEN A FLOOD AROSE, THE STREAM BROKE AGAINST THE HOUSE AND COULD NOT SHAKE IT, BECAUSE IT HAD BEEN WELL BUILT.
BUT THE ONE WHO HEARS AND DOES NOT DO THEM IS LIKE A MAN WHO BUILT A HOUSE ON THE GROUND WITHOUT A FOUNDATION. WHEN THE STREAM BROKE AGAINST IT, IMMEDIATELY IT FELL AND THE RUIN OF THE HOUSE WAS GREAT.” Luke 6:46-49
Jesus used what was around Him to help the people of ancient Israel understand what He was saying.
I love the thought of Jesus using the rocks and boulders that are so commonplace in this holy land. And even though Jesus was Emmanuel, God in the flesh, He most probably knew from earthly experience what He was talking about!
I wonder how many solid foundations He had built?
The Parable
These verses above make up a parable.
Parables taught by Jesus are earthy stories with deep spiritual meaning.
In this parable, Jesus compares Himself to a ROCK!
We can see so many examples throughout the whole Bible that talk about Jesus as a rock!
Why a rock? Because the ancients understood the lessons from the landscape around them.
Jesus Our Rock
Rocks are solid and unshakable and immobile.
Jesus is the same. The same yesterday, today, and will be tomorrow! In a world where everything changes, Jesus does not!
He is the one true and steadfast thing and the only thing worth building our lives upon.
Jesus says in this parable,
“WHY DO YOU CALL ME ‘LORD, LORD,’ AND NOT DO WHAT I TELL YOU?”
The word for Lord is kurios. It means master or owner. It’s the idea of someone having complete authority and absolute ownership rights.
Jesus’ disciples recognized Him as the Messiah. They called Him Lord. But Jesus asks them if they believe that He was Lord why they didn’t obey Him?
Jesus then describes the unshaken, sure life of a true believer!
He said…
EVERYONE WHO COME TO ME AND HEARS MY WORDS AND DOES THEM, I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT HE IS LIKE Luke 6:47
Jesus gives His disciples three things they need to do to have a life and belief that is unshakable…
Come, hear, and do!
How can we “do” or obey God if we do not hear Him? And how can we hear Him if we do not come to Him willing to get to know Him?
When my children were little I would say, “how can you serve a God you do not know”. Knowing God became an important daily discipline in their lives!
To come to Jesus is to know Him. And how can you know Him if you don’t spend time with Him?
We need to “COME TO JESUS” daily. We need to be studying His word and understanding it!
What does it mean to hear Jesus’ word? The Greek word hear has a far deeper and richer meaning than the word hear in English.
Hear carries the idea of not only taking in information but understanding it and also being obedient to it.
The word hear is actually a doing word!
Another way to think about this parable is to abide and obey.
To abide is to have a deep and intimate relationship with someone and be quick to do what they say. So obedience follows abiding!
Obedience is the only right reply if we know Jesus and hear His word! Obedience comes out of knowing and understanding
Our Choices
We have two clear choices.
We can live our lives with unshaken belief or we can be worried and anxious and uncertain.
It’s all about your foundation, my friend!
You are building your house every day! Where have you decided to build it?
What I’m Memorizing This Week
EVERYONE WHO COME TO ME AND HEARS MY WORDS AND DOES THEM, I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT HE IS LIKE Luke 6:47
A challenging and well timed teaching Yvonne . I have been building my house upon the Rock of my Salvation for nearly 40 years . Those foundations are certainly being put to the test in these times . Without Him , I know the storms we are all facing now would have overwhelmed and swamped me . Praise God , that Jesus is my strength and solid foundation who cannot be shaken .
Amen, Angie! It is most comforting to know Truth
I just love your blog. I love this Sunday blog especially. I am reading the Bible through—up to Chap. 28 in Isaiah. I really need to know how to study the Bible. Any tips will be appreciated. Thanks.
If you want to learn how to study the bible I highly suggest this book:https://amzn.to/3sZkEmS
Amen.
Beautiful! I always look
Forward to your Sunday message. May God richly bless you!
Thank you Stella, you too!
Yvonne, I look so forward to your Sunday posts where you show me so much! I don’t know how to look up the original meanings like you do. That makes everything so much deeper and richer in meaning! Could you do a future post that you show us what tools we can use to find these original meanings to help deepen our home Bible studies?
Looking forward to meeting you one day in Heaven,
Glenda
I use biblehub.com and when I find a verse I’m looking up I click the Greek or Hebrew button. I’ve used a Greek and Hebrew concordance and word study for decades. Thank goodness for technology!
Good word, Yvonne! Appreciate your commitment to speak truth!
So spot on with what THE LORD was speaking to me this morning. So so good! Thank YOU!!!
Amen! Thank you.
I alway enjoy your Sunday messages. I feel so blessed to be able to worship Christ and have that personal relationship with him everyday. Thanks
Amen! Have a wonderful week!
So inspiring! Our faith is tested every day, it is good to know that someone is looking constantly for us and has our back even when we don’t deserve it. Good post Yvonne, thanks for sharing. Blessings from above.
You are so welcome
Yvonne, I have been a Christian since I was young and raised in church. I have just begun to “Study” the Bible in the past few years. When I read your Sunday posts, I love when you give the original meanings of words.
What do you use to find the meaning in the original Greek or Hebrew?
I use Bible Hub an online resource. You can go here: https://biblehub.com/ At the very top of the page you can click on a bible verse you want and once the page comes up under the blue line that has all the versions of the bible you will see words in bold print. One of those words is LEXICO so click on that. You will see Greek or Hebrew translations for the verse. Hope this helps.
Hi Yvonne.
I enjoy reading your blog and your Sunday message.
Thank You
Nancy
God bless you, Nancy!
I look forward to your Sunday posts and you never disappoint. As I read about Jesus being a builder, and how solid those foundations were, I wonder if there are still houses that his hands built remaining in Israel?
Love your blog.
What a wonderful thought! There is a house He built that is over 2,000 years old, His church!
Yvonne,
Hello, I so enjoy your blog- the best! I, too, especially look forward to your Sunday Edition. I am for the first time beginning to read the bible. I have started with the bible given to us from the VFW when my Dad passed over 50 years ago. What version do you suggest I purchase for “easier” reading?
Thank you for helping me open my eyes in so many ways! These last 12 years have really been a storm.
God Bless you,
Linda
Linda, there is no best version of the Bible. It’s what is best for you. I like to read the Amplified Bible because it gives the Greek and Hebrew definitions of important words. And I study with the New American Standard Version because it is closest to the King James which is closest to the original Greek and Hebrew when I study.
Thank you for sharing your Sunday devotions. I receive a special blessing each time I read them.
Thank you for sharing God’s Words.p
After reading your post today I read another blogger who referred her readers to yesterdays post from the Pinecones and Acorns blog. A section of the Pinecones and Acorns blog was about internet ‘influencers’. She wrote: “…If you are an influencer, no matter how big or small you have a responsibility to the people who follow you and the people who see your content. As an influencer your words and images represent what you believe, wear, buy, sell and how you live. Or so we are led to believe. People young and old soak up this information and purchase products based upon your recommendations, they eat certain food, listen to podcasts, read books, etc, all because you mentioned it.”
Yvonne, you certainly take your responsibility seriously. I pray that all those “people young and old [who] soak up this information” find their way here to your blog so they will be influenced by what you believe, how you live and The Book you always recommend. Thank you for posting what will benefit us not only in this life but for eternity.
God bless you Patty! Thank you!
A friend lost his 52 year old son to cancer this past week. His son was a full-time youth/music minister and had been a bi-vocational music minister since he was 20 years old. He touched so many lives and raised his children and built their home to love the Lord. My heart breaks for them in his home going but know God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
So sorry for your loss, Judy