Listen + Follow
Table of Contents
Listen
Earlier this month we celebrated my wife’s birthday. I got her this card…
To my wife. Your birthday’s a good time to admit the REAL MEANING behind some of the things I say to you.
When I say: The game’s almost over. I really mean: There’s at least 3 hours left.
When I say: I’m not lost. I really mean: Thank you for being patient while I figure out where we are.
When I say: I’ll get right to it. I really mean: Now that you’ve reminded me.
When I say: I love you. I really mean: I love you more than life itself & I still can’t believe you married me!
I think we all know this is true, to listen to someone is different than just hearing them. To listen, really listen, means something more.
In Matthew 5-7, we have the largest section of continuous Red Letters in your Scriptures. These are the words of Jesus to some of his very first disciples.
If you begin at the end of Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, you find out just how important it is to listen, really listen, to these words from Jesus.
In Matthew 7.24-29, Jesus says…
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise…
What is wisdom? How do you get it? How do you become a wise person?
Jesus says this is wisdom: To Listen + Follow.
To listen is different than just hearing. It’s hearing + understanding.
The Wisdom Test:
So here’s a simple wisdom test:
Part 1 of the test is this: Are you presently listening to the teachings of Jesus? Are you READING the red letters?
Download The RED LETTER CHALLENGE.
Read more about The RED LETTER CHALLENGE.
Dallas Willard once said, Spiritual transformation is “the inescapable human problem with no human solution.”
Our problem is that if we want to grow in our faith, we can’t make that happen. BUT, we can put ourselves in position for God to do what ONLY GOD can do in our lives. We cannot spiritually transform ourselves, but God can.
The first part of the Wisdom test is: Are you READING the Red Letters.
Part 2 of the test: Are you FOLLOWING his teaching? Are you putting what you’re learning from Jesus into practice?
In other words, Obedience = Wisdom.
Jesus says wisdom is Listening + Following. It’s the application of His teaching.
Following is knowing what to do & choosing to do it. To follow means to apply. To choose a direction. To put your life up under the authority of another.
Are you LIVING the red letters? Are you applying them to your life.
Here’s what I know is true about you: Your life is perfectly designed to give you the exact results you are currently getting. If you are happy with your heading, stay on course. If you’re not, change course!
Build Your Life this way
Jesus says, it’s kind of like this…
…like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.
Jesus knew something about building a house.
Jesus, remember, was the son of a carpenter from Nazareth.
Jesus says when you listen to his teaching & follow it, when you take the words of Jesus to heart & obey them, when you build your life on his teachings, YOU ARE WISE!
Whenever you build a house, you get to pick out all kinds of things… cabinets, light fixtures, countertops, appliances, paint colors, the works!
But the most important part is chosen for you by your contractor. The one you’ve trusted to build your house. Your builder chooses your foundation. He chooses the concrete. He chooses the depth. The location. The amount of rebar needed to hold it up and make it strong. Everything.
What foundation are you building your life on?
Maybe the better question is….
Who is your builder? Your builder will determine your foundation.
When your builder is Jesus, the foundation of your life becomes his teachings. The red letters.
When your builder is anyone else, you will have a makeshift foundation that simply will not stand. You’ll see why in a moment.
Why Your Builder Matters
What are you building your life on?
This is why this matters… When you do this… when you build your life on Jesus, it will stand.
Come what may, it won’t fall.
You may think, No… I know lots of people who don’t believe in God, whose lives aren’t built on the teachings of Jesus & they’re doing just fine. They’ve survived the storms of life. They may appear like they have it all together. It may look like they’ve survived the storms of life apart from Christ. But in just a moment you need to ask the question, what storm is Jesus talking about?
Jesus continues….
But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
For a lot of you, you’re probably thinking… I thought this story just made for a cute kid’s song. “The rains came down & the floods came up…”
But after Jesus finished this story, along with all the teaching he did in Matthew 5-7, Matthew tells us that…
…the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
People were amazed? Why?
Because Jesus wasn’t writing a cute song for kids.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a story just for children.
Jesus is teaching here with authority.
Jesus wasn’t the latest speaker on the conference circuit. He wasn’t the latest commentator with new insight. He wasn’t offering self-help. He wasn’t preaching prosperity. This isn’t about Christian living. Or behavior modification.
Jesus is saying this is LIFE. To have LIFE you have to BUILD YOUR LIFE on HIS teachings.
And don’t miss this… the opposite of this is DEATH.
Choose LIFE. Read the red letters. Build your life on Jesus!
The Storm
Here’s why this story is SO IMPORTANT. It’s important because Jesus is beginning his ministry with the END in mind.
The storm that Jesus is talking about isn’t the storms of life.
If you back up just 3 verses, to Matthew 7.21, you’ll find the context for this teaching from Jesus. And you’ll find the STORM that Jesus is talking to his disciples about.
Before Jesus told this story about building your life on solid rock or sand, Jesus said this…
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
The storm that Jesus is talking about is Judgement Day.
We don’t talk about this much, but this day is coming. THE STORM is coming. The question is: When the storm comes will your life stand?
Over the holidays our family made a road trip to see family & friends. We drove all across the southeast. There are parts of that drive where you can see the devastation left by storms that hit several years ago.
Here’s what we know is true: We know that when the storms of life hit your family, when the storms of life hit your marriage, when the storms of life hit your health, when the storms of life hit your finances, when the storms of life hit your life can stand up under the weight of that storm if your life is built on Jesus.
We can look around and see people we know and love who are here today who are still standing! If that’s true of you, you need to know that we love you, we see you and you inspire us!
But those kinds of storms is not what Jesus is talking about here.
What Jesus is talking about here is bigger than the storms of LIFE.
What Jesus is talking about here is the Last Day.
Here’s the question Jesus is asking: Will your life be standing when this storm comes?
If you build your life on Jesus, you will.
When you build your life on Jesus your life will withstand the storm. It’s everlasting life.
Will you declare that this is what will be true for you. That I will build my life on the ONE thing that will last, on the ONE thing that will never fail, on the sure & solid foundation, on the firm Cornerstone that is Christ alone.
Will you build your life on the Red Letters? Will you build your life on Jesus?
I serve as the Co-Senior Minister at First Colony Church of Christ in Sugar Land, TX. I enjoy sports, running, fishing & life with the family. I’ve been in ministry since 1999. My wife Alisha & I have three amazing children, Will, Ella Grace & Emma Love. Thank you for stopping by my website!
