ROCCK

Free sample · Day 1 · The Foundation

Two Builders

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.Matthew 7:24 (NIV)

Straight Talk

Jesus ends the greatest sermon ever preached with a story about construction. He has just spent three chapters turning the world upside down: blessed are the poor in spirit, love your enemies, don't worry about tomorrow. Then he closes with two men and two houses.

Here is what should get your attention. From the street, the two houses probably looked the same. Same roofline. Same fresh paint. Same truck in the driveway. You could not tell the difference on a sunny day.

The difference was underground. One man dug down to ROCCK. The other man built on sand because it was faster, cheaper, and nobody would ever see it anyway.

Then the storm came. Notice Jesus does not say "if." He says the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew. Both houses got hit by the same storm. Following Jesus does not exempt you from the weather. It determines whether you are still standing when it passes.

So what separates the two builders? Not knowledge. Both men heard the words of Jesus. The wise man heard them and put them into practice. The foolish man heard them and did nothing.

That should hit close to home for us. Most of us have heard plenty. We have sat through sermons, maybe read a few books, nodded along at the men's breakfast. But hearing is not building. A man can know every verse about patience and still blow up at his kids. He can quote Scripture about purity and still live a secret life. Information is not foundation. Obedience is.

Here is the hard question, brother: What is your life actually built on? Not what you say it is built on. What is actually holding the weight? When the doctor calls, when the job goes away, when your marriage hits a wall, what do you reach for first? Your paycheck? Your reputation? Your own strength? A bottle or a screen?

Those things feel solid until the water rises. Then they wash out from under you, and the collapse Jesus describes is "great." It takes everything with it.

The good news is that it is never too late to dig. Some of you are reading this with a house already cracked, maybe already in pieces. Jesus is not standing over the rubble shaking his head. He is the ROCCK, and he is offering to be your foundation right now, today, starting with one act of obedience.

That is what these 40 days are about. Not adding more information to a shaky life. Digging down, one day at a time, until your whole life is resting on Jesus Christ and his words. The storms are coming either way. Let's build something that stands.

Dig Into the Word

1. Read Matthew 7:24-27. What exactly is the difference between the two builders, and what is the same about them?
2. Read Luke 6:46-49. What detail does Luke add about how the wise man built, and what does that suggest about the effort involved?
3. Read James 1:22-25. How does James describe the man who hears but does not do, and what does he promise the man who acts?

Honest Questions

1. If a storm hit your life tomorrow, what part of your house do you think would give way first?
2. Where are you hearing the words of Jesus but not putting them into practice right now?
3. What do you honestly reach for first when pressure comes, and what does that tell you about your foundation?
4. What is one area of your life you have been "painting over" instead of fixing underneath?

The Lion and the Lamb

Stand on It

Write down one command of Jesus you already know but have not been obeying. Do it before the day is over, even if it is small, and write down what happened.

I will:

Pray

Lord Jesus, I have heard a lot of your words, but I have not always built on them. I have leaned on my own strength, my job, my reputation, and things that cannot hold me up. Show me what my life is really resting on. Where I have built on sand, give me the courage to dig down to you. I do not want to look solid on the outside and be hollow underneath. Be my ROCCK and my foundation. Help me not just hear you but obey you, starting today. In Jesus' name, amen.