47. A Solid Foundation

“Everyone who comes to me and hears these words of mine, and then does them, is like a wise person, who built a house on rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; it didn’t fall, because it was founded on rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish person, who built a house on sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house and it fell—and great was its fall.”

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes.

The key difference between lives built on solid rock or shifting sands is whether the builder puts into practice what Jesus has said. When you hear the words of Jesus, do you consider how to apply them in your life? Is it easier to learn about Jesus than it is to learn from him?

Prayer: Show me, Lord, how to do what you say and not end up being a fool who is unprepared for the storms of life.

 

46. True Wealth

“Don’t seek treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal; seek treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

“Don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothes? See the birds of the sky: they don’t sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they are?

 “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to your life? Why are you anxious about clothes? Consider how lilies of the field grow: they don’t toil, neither do they spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and gone tomorrow, won’t God much more clothe you even though your faith is small?

“Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘What will we wear?’ The Gentiles seek all these things; your heavenly Father knows what you need. Seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well. Don’t be anxious about tomorrow; each day has enough problems of its own.

How much is enough? Wealth is not evil in its essence, but is seductive because it never delivers as much happiness as it promises. How do you react to reading what Jesus says about wealth? Do you compare yourself to billionaires or beggars when deciding if you are wealthy?

Prayer: Save me, Lord, from a life in which more is never enough.