The House on the Rock

 

  “The rains came down and the floods came up” (words from a Sunday school song). 

Lots of rain fell last week (Oct. 2021). Barbara, my wife, emptied her rain gauge of two inches and later of one inch. Then more rain fell. TV news showed flooding in the SC Upstate area. Ms. Doris Via-Taylor, of Piedmont, posted on Facebook on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021: “Another 5 inches in the rain gauge today. Maybe it’s over for a few days now.”  

Jesus talked about rain.

Matthew 7:24-27 (KJV):  

“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: and 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.

“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: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching.” 

In the Bible, rain is often used to symbolize a blessing from God, in both conditional blessing for obedience as well as a part of God’s common grace, sources say. Rain is sometimes used to punish, as in the account of Noah.

In Jesus’ parable about the wise man-foolish man, he is talking about building our lives on obedience to the teachings of the Bible.

We should accept Jesus Christ as Savior, ground ourselves in Christ, and make wise choices through the guidance of his Spirit before the storms of life come, one writer says. “Only in him can we be assured that our foundation is rock-solid.”

By “rain” and “floods” and “winds,” Jesus is talking about calamities and afflictions that befall people, newadvent.org says. The writer adds, “He calls the steadfastness of His doctrine a rock; because in truth His commands are stronger than any rock, setting one above all the waves of human affairs. … The apostles too are our witnesses, for that when the waves of the whole world were beating against them, when both nations and princes, both their own people and strangers, both the evil spirits, and the devil, and every engine was set in motion, they stood firmer than a rock.” 

This parable inspired hymns such as My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less by Edward Mote, around 1834. That song includes these words:
     
    My hope is built on nothing less
  Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
    I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
  But wholly trust in Jesus' Name.
      

Chorus:  
    On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand;
 All other ground is sinking sand. 

“As we follow the Lord, learning to trust and obey Him, we receive a reward: our ‘house’ is steady and solid, unshaken by circumstances. The wise man is the believer whose life is built upon the Rock of Christ; in this world he has faith and hope, and in the next everlasting life and love” (from gotquestions.org).

Years ago, when singing the wise man-foolish man song at Faith Temple, we children liked the second verse: “The foolish man built his house upon the sand.” We’d intone those words three times and then sing, “And the house on the sand fell FLAT!” As we sang “FLAT!” we’d loudly stomp our feet. As youngsters, we didn’t know the meaning of those words — didn’t know about the sadness that would come later to those with lives built on sand.

But whatever may have happened in your life, it’s never too late to accept Jesus as Savior and begin to sing, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand.”