Matthew 7:24 – “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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (NIV)

I remember the very first sermon I preached many years ago.  The title was: “Is Your Faith Practical?”  It was a modern take on a sermon written a couple hundred years prior by John Wesley.  I am, after all, a disciple of Wesleyan theology!  The sermon written by Wesley, like much of his teachings, was about moving from mere head knowledge to actually living out our faith day by day.  The teachings of Wesley are a large part of why I initially decided to become a Methodist.  I’m not implying that other denominations do not emphasize putting faith into practice, but from the denomination that I came from, the teachings of Wesley were new and exciting.   

When we think of the word ‘practical’, we often think in terms of convenience.  The word, however, literally means to be functional, and to be put into use.  Wesley was not the first to teach that we must put our faith into practice.  Indeed, Jesus taught this lesson over two thousand years ago.  Jesus not only taught us to put our faith into practice, but he also taught us the consequence of not putting our faith into practice.  

Faith is not something we store away just so we can go to heaven when we die.  Faith is where we draw our strength for living life day by day.  Faith is our source of strength when the storms of life toss us about.  Jesus taught us that when those storms come – and they will – our faith will enable us to survive the storms.  However, if we claim to have faith in Jesus, but fail to put his words into practice (verse 24), then we will never be able to withstand the storms of life.

Let us strive to put the words of Jesus, and all of the teachings of the Bible, into practice.  Let us build our spiritual house upon a solid foundation, so that when the storms come, we will be left standing. 

Posted by Ramón Torres