Why Should Christians Evaluate What Their Lives Are Built On?

Matthew 7:24-27 states, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

The Seriousness of Our Evaluation

We would not like to imagine our homes coming down and falling with a great crash. But this is a portrait of what happens to those who don’t build their houses on the Rock. Our lives are houses, built on something. What are we building ours on? Let’s say, for example, we are Christians. God is the only one who can grant us eternal life, so let’s examine what we are building our lives on in light of this. What is in our lives that is being examined by this process? When we are born again, we are born into Christ’s kingdom. So, basically, every decision in our lives has to be made in light of Christ and His kingdom. We have to determine “What does Christ want in this area of my life?” At this point, you could say that everything in your life has to be evaluated in light of the question “What does Christ want in this area of my life?”

The Problem With Building On Our Own Righteousness

Some people don’t want to be at this place in their life. They are filled up with pride. They think, “I am a fine person and I’ve done a lot of good things. My church is fine. I know how to live the Christian life.” If there is anything going wrong, they might say that their sins are “small”. They look to their own righteousness, which is not the same as God’s righteousness, and say, “I’m fine.” But their house is being evaluated by the water, wind and the storms of life. Christ came to build His church (Matthew 18:18). His is the only church. We could say “Your church is all right.” That may be true, if by “your church” you mean the church of Christ. If you are referring to Christ’s church, then you are only acknowledging the truth. If you say it’s all right in an unbelieving manner, or you’re saying that you are doing just fine, then the problem is that you don’t want to acknowledge the truth. You are building the house of your life upon yourself.

Conclusion

Are you a Christian? Are you a Christian who has built his/her life on a rock? Then the first thing to do is realize that “What I have done to build my own life is not Christ’s work.” Secondly, you may have to repent of anything you have done to build your life on yourself. The important thing is to continue to build your life on Christ as you put His words into practice. All you have to do is to evaluate your life in light of the question, “What does Christ want in this area of my life?”

Image courtesy of renjithkrishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Albert L. Maag, Sr.

Elder at Grace Baptist Church of San Antonio, Texas

July 2016