Matthew 7

Key Verse: Matthew 7:24

Big Idea: Following Jesus builds your life upon the solid rock.

Imagine trying to push something heavy while standing in thick mud. The harder you push the deeper you sink, while the object remains unmoved. No matter how much you slip and slide, you will not be able to accomplish anything without a firm footing.

In the final chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus issues a series of warnings about the hypocritical life. It begins with the vivid word picture of trying to remove a speck from your brother’s eye with a log sticking out of your own, warns about false prophets, who are like wolves in sheep costumes, and describes how a rotten tree will ultimately be revealed by its fruit.

If we try to do good things without a relationship with Jesus, we are like a person standing in the mud or a rotten tree with fruit taped on it.When there are no roots, there will be no significance. So Jesus tells a story about a man who builds his house on a rock. The rain and wind come and beat on the house, but all of its significance stands because the foundation holds. A house built without a foundation collapses catastrophically.

If we trust Jesus as our Savior and follow Him, everything else in our life is given strength by the solid foundation. Those roots, deep in the heart, give everything else a firm footing. Without that foundation laid first, everything else is nothing but smoke, disappearing as quickly as it comes.

Discussion idea: How can we stand on the solid rock when the storms of life are raging?

Prayer focus: Pray for God to help us prioritize the foundation, and build our life on Him.