25 Jan. Building your life on rock solid foundations
"Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. It rained hard, the floods came and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock."
"Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. It rained hard, the floods came and the wind blew and hit that house, and it fell with a big crash."
"When Jesus finished saying these things, the people were amazed at his teaching, because he did not teach like the teachers of the law. He taught like a person who has authority."
(Matthew 7:24-29)
Matthew ended his account of Jesus's 'Sermon on the Mount' with a parable about two housebuilders - and he made it clear that Jesus's story referred to the foundations on which we build our lives.
Sand is loose and unconsolidated, and any house built on it can easily be washed away by a heavy downpour. Rock, on the other hand, is resistant to erosion, so it provides a firm foundation for a house.
When we moved to Altrincham (near Manchester, in the UK) many years ago, we saw a house for sale that looked really nice. But when we had a survey done, we were told that the house was built on a sandy subsoil and was liable to subsidence. Indeed, the surveyor told us that some cracks had already been patched up so they weren't obvious! Needless to say, we didn't buy the house built on sand!
It's the same when we build our own lives. We can choose to build our lives on the search for more and more money, for luxury and wealth, for power and authority over others.
Or we can follow Jesus's words, and build our lives on serving others, living a moderate lifestyle and feeling the joy when we've been able to help those who need our love and assistance.
Jesus recognised these rock-solid qualities in his friend Simon Barjonas, one of his fisherman friends who lived in Capernaum (see Matthew 4:18-20 & John 1:40-42).
When Jesus met Simon, he immediately became a firm favourite. Jesus said to him, "You are Simon, son of John ['BarJonas' in Hebrew]. You will be called Cephas." (John 1:42) 'Cephas', in Aramaic, means 'a rock'. The Greek equivalent is 'Petros' ('Peter'), meaning 'a rock'.
From this point onwards, Jesus always refers to Simon by his nickname 'Peter', 'the rock', or 'Rocky Barjonas'.
The photo shows a Turkish house in Antalya (Biblical 'Attalia' - see Acts 14:25).
You can read more from Jesus's 'sermon on the mount' @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/jesuss-teachings-on-a-hi…/