Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Matthew 7:24-27
There is a difference between only reading your Bible and doing what the Bible says.
Too often we do not take our next step with Jesus, because it is easier to read our Bible than it is to be obedient to what we already know. Falling in to that trap leads us to build a life that doesn't last through the hard times.
Jesus shares His words with us, so that we can put them into practice. When we practice what we read, we are building our life on rocks of truth. It will stand up against hardships, trials and suffering. When we hear the words of Jesus and do not practice them, we are building our life on shifting sand, which cannot stand up against anything. Jesus calls those who build on sand fools in Matthew 7.
How about you? Are you wasting your time reading your Bible but not practicing? Are you building your life on sand?
Here are 5 ways to build your life on sand:
- Spend more time praying and reading about a sin in your life that God has revealed instead of taking the necessary steps to stop it. Whatever you do, don’t take action by confessing and repenting (1 John 1:8-10).
- Spend more time reading your Bible than you do with your family. Ephesians 5:22-33 is a charge to husbands and wives to love like Jesus, don’t take it seriously.
- If you are in school, spend more time reading your Bible than you do studying for your classes. God doesn't really want your BEST work (1 Corinthians 10:31).
- If you are currently having sex with someone to whom you're not married, read 1 Corinthians 6:18 and feel bad about it, but don’t RUN.
- If you aren't currently tithing (giving 10% of your gross income, to a local church and being generous with the rest), try to make up for it by spending more time in prayer (Matthew 6:21).
If any of these are true for you, stop only reading the playbook, the Bible, and start doing what the Bible says. God is so much better than anything else that is holding you back from obedience.
The truth is even your inaction is a choice to build, because we are all building something. You can choose to build something that lasts through the storm, or you can build a flimsy life that falls apart when hard times come. Stop building your life on sand. Start building your life on rock. Don’t just read your Bible, obey what you read.
