BUILDING OUR “HOUSE”
(Saturday, July 13)
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Mt 7: 24-27)
What does it mean, to hear Christ’s “sayings” and to “do” them? Does it mean to be a perfect Christian? If so, the above-quoted passage would doom practically all of us, who hear the word of God and its message(s) about faith, meekness, patience, love, humility, compassion, etc., but still slip into self-centered fears, anger, resentment, arrogance, etc., time and again. But “doing” the word of God is a process, just like house-building is a process. Our Lord is reminding us that our “house-building,” however imperfect, must begin with a basic, foundational focus on Him and His life-creating “sayings.” Our hearing and doing is never perfect, even while our primary focus is on Him. And that is okay, because it is He Who is perfect, and He Who maintains our “house” through our ups and downs.
Building a house is a long process, which involves “doing” it brick by brick, one day at a time. Our Lord is not discouraging us but helping us, through this house-building metaphor, to have the right picture in our minds, of Who our foundation must be, – namely, Him (1 Cor 10:4), as we go about our daily house-building. The picture is encouraging, because: (A.) We need not rely on ourselves, but on Him, as our foundation; and (B.) We need not worry about the size or other aspects of our “house,” if we are not very good builders, as long as our base or foundation is Christ; and (C.) It is dignifying, to realize that we do make progress in our spiritual lives, anchored in Christ, because building implies progress.
Let me begin this day with “hearing” today’s Gospel-reading, quoted above, and “doing” the following: I embrace Christ as my Rock, Who carries me through any successes and failures. Thy will be done with all of us today, dear Lord, and thank You for all of it.