Rocky foundation Matt7: 24-27
“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: 25and 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.
26“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: 27and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
You are welcome to another family bible time, we are considering a very popular parable of Jesus Christ, and I urge us all to not assume we know this parable but to prayerfully take a close look at it again as a family.
Activity 1: Can each member of the family thoughtfully ask themselves these two questions:
- How much of God’s word do I know?
- How much of God’s word that I know do I really do?
We cannot overemphasize the importance of the Word of God in the life of a believer.
Activity 2: Can each member of the family take turns and talk about what the word of God means to them?
(Scripture guide for the leader- Matt4:4, Psalm119:105, Psalm119:97-98)
Our Text today describes two men (women, boys, girls, families), both of them built their houses but on different foundations
Activity 3: Ask a child in the family what a foundation is in a building (principles, platforms, anchor, support, rules)
Take note that both houses experienced the same unpleasant situations: rain, floods and winds, these are things that can happen to an individual or even a family to check how strong the individual or the family is, and to see how you will respond as an individual or as a family. They can be in form of challenges, temptations, unpleasant situations, delayed expectations, etc
Activity 4: An adult in the family can explain these (rain, flood, wind) in age appropriate way to the children so they can relate.
The outcome of these two houses are obvious from our text, and the reason for the difference is the foundation. In vs24 of our text, Jesus Christ likened a man who hears and does His sayings (words)to the wise man.
I am sure that from activity 1 most of us will answer that they know the word of God to a significant degree, this is good , well done, keep it up. However knowing the word alone does not guarantee a solid foundation. If you look at the first word of our text, it says “therefore”, whenever you see therefore as the beginning of a verse, please read the previous verses for better understanding.
In Matt7:21 Jesus mentioned that it is only those who does (not just know) the will of God that will enter the Kingdom of heaven, not even those who just preach, prophesied, cast out devils or even do miracles and don’t practice the word. Jesus referred to them as “you who practice lawlessness” Matt7:22-23. Lawlessness simply mean living without the law or disregarding the law. Law in this place refers to the word or the will of God.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves James1:22
So going back to our text, building on a strong foundation that can withstand the rain and flood and wind simply means knowing the word of God and practicing the word of God that you know.
The house of the other man that built on a weak foundation could not stand the rain, flood and wind, Matt7:27 described the fall as a “great fall” because people had known him as someone who reads and knows the word and expected some stability in his life/home/family because they assumed he was practicing the word as well, but he wasn’t.
Reflection:
- The devil is not afraid of head knowledge of the word of God/bible stories. It is having a relationship with God, knowing who you are in Christ and DOING the WORD that the devil fears.
- Make up your mind today to apply the same effort you put in knowing the word to practicing it-obedience, giving, forgiveness, Godly relationships, submission, humility etc
Prayer circle:
- Make a list of the things in the word of God that the children are struggling to do and prayerfully agree on plans to help them overcome these challenges
- Adults should prayerfully work out a plan to start doing the things in the word that they have not been doing before.
Prayer: May the Holy Spirit (the helper) help us all to be doers of the word of God all the time in Jesus name. Amen.
Raising Godly Children 