This passage says now we're construction contractors. In a spiritual sense we are either building a lasting house on a firm rock foundation, or else foolishly building our lives on shifting sands. The least rain storm will wash us up if we carelessly slap together a life's shanty there.

I've done some home renovations, but I've never called myself a house builder or a construction contractor. Have you?

What does Jesus mean by this picture language? If we look closely at these verses we'll see that He explains them Himself. Everyone who hears, or reads His words in the Bible, and who practices them is already like the wise builder. The life that results from that obedience, and acting on sound principles, is going to be strong and able to survive the negative stuff that comes into our lives. Things like the deaths of loved ones, financial lack or losses, bad health, accidents, friends turning against us, - all that kind of stuff.

Those who ignore Jesus' teaching and just stumble through their lives without a moral compass, nor making any effort to have purpose and direction are like the foolish builders. They are tossed from one small thrill to another big hurt, and back and forth. Even the smallest disaster throws them into a panic. To borrow an illustration from the midway, their life is a roller coaster ride.

Our life does not have to be like that. We can choose to study and obey the commands of Jesus instead. This will give us a firm foundation and stabilize our lives.

Jesus gave commands like; rejoice and be exceeding glad, seek first His kingdom, pray in secret, love God, love your enemies and do good to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel, love one another, murmur not among yourselves, have faith in God - just to name a few.

If we work at buiding those commands into our lives we will truly be able to say, "Now we're construction contractors," in the same sense as what Jesus meant with this parable.

[NOTICE: You will see that these devotions appear to stop in the middle of chapter 7 of Matthew, when the book of Matthew has 28 chapters. I have found my original series of this study and found that I have 170 one-page devotionals from the Book of Matthew. It now seems wise to turn them into an ebook!

So watch this space for an annoucement when it is ready! In fact, the first clues to this will come in my weekly ezine (mailing list) the RoseBouquet. Subscribe for a closer look at my weekly life, and such annoucements.