Welcome to the first in our summer series of stories Jesus told. This week we look at the wise and foolish builders. Get your instruments and lego at the ready!
Here is this weeks Thankful Thought
Thankful Thought April 16th 2020.
Wise and Foolish builders Matt 7 v 24-27 & Luke 6 v46-49
This seemed like a very appropriate parable for our current season. I don’t know about you, but this virus lockdown has made me consider my life’s foundations. Things I usually rely on even take for granted – like my boys going to school, being able to go into the office to work, being able to see all your gorgeous children and have a cuppa together, knowing I can get food when I need it. These things have been stripped away as we all wait, stuck at home. I am usually a News addict, but I have had to limit my intake as it has been like the rain is coming down and floods are coming up and life has felt wobbly.
This parable in Matthew’s gospel comes at the end of chapter all about how to live – one in which Jesus has said not to judge others, to ask God for what you need, to do for others as you would have them do for you, that the way to heaven is not easy – where as the way to hell is and that people will know you by your actions. Jesus describes the wise builder as being like the person who hears his teaching and obeys it – the foolish builder being the one who hears the teaching but does not obey it.
So, if your foundations have felt shaky in this season – read again the teachings of Jesus and obey them. This is not a time to judge others – but to love them as yourself, it is a time to ask God for what we need and to be trees who produce good fruit by our actions. Jesus is our rock, a very present help in times of trouble – stand firm on him. I pray we will all feel secure on his firm foundations, knowing that in Jesus death itself has been conquered and that His perfect love drives out all fear.
Love and Prayers Claire xx