Every believer is a builder. Every convert, recruited into construction. Every saint, a sub-contractor.

“Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” ~ Jesus

(Matthew 7:24-25 EV)

Every believer is a builder. The only question is whether they are a wise believer or a not so wise believer. The determining factor? The materials and the tools.

The materials are “these words of Mine.” The house is built with the Scriptures of truth. Know the Scriptures and you’ll be a wise builder because you’ve got good material to build with. No substitute for personal knowledge of the revealed will of God. No cheap knock-offs that will do what hearing the voice of God will do. Only it will provide a sure foundation. Only God’s word is trustworthy bedrock. And bedrock is only found by digging, and digging deep.

But materials without tools are useless. And the tools Jesus gives us here are the tools of obedience. Obedience to the word heard. Works evident as the fruit of words believed. Only then will a wise man, and a wise woman, have a house built on the rock.

We deceive ourselves if we think that our house is built on a sure foundation by default simply because we believed in the Rock. Or that our house is ready to withstand the storms of life because of a profession of faith. Oh, blueprints have been provided, help has been promised, but that our house is steady, solid, and steadfast just because we’ve said the sinner’s prayer? I don’t think so.

In fact, if we do not build with the right materials and the right tools, the Scriptures say that such a person’s house will be “burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1Cor. 3:12-15). We might be saved on that day (“like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames” – NLT), but if we don’t build with the right materials we are on shaky ground when trying to make it through today.

There is no escaping how vital it is that believers build their lives on the Word of God. No getting around that knowing the word and, by God’s enabling power through the Spirit, seeking to live out the word is what makes for a rock-solid foundation. One that withstands the rains, holds fast in the flood, and is unmoved by the winds that beat against it.

Word of God speak!

But it only speaks if I open it. It only penetrates if I study it. It only protects if I believe in it. It only transforms if I practice it.

When all is said and done, whether or not a house is built on solid rock–whether or not a soul stands firm and fast in the storm–comes down to materials and tools.

Materials and tools supplied and utilized only by His grace. A house built intentionally and diligently only for His glory.