“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27 NASB1995)

What does it look like to hear the words of Jesus Christ and to act on them? It means we take our Lord’s words to us, his followers, seriously, and we seek to please him in all that we are and say and do for the glory and praise of God, and not for the glory of our flesh. So when he says that if any of us would come after him, that we must deny self, die to sin daily (take up our cross daily) and follow (obey) him, that is what we must desire to do, and that is what we act on in obedience to our Lord, and we follow his leading.

And what does it look like to hear the words of Jesus Christ and to not act on them? Well, it may or may not include a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but it goes the opposite direction of the one who acts upon the words of the Lord. Those in this category are the ones who take God’s words lightly, and who do not feel obligated to obey our Lord’s commands or to leave their lives of sin behind them. Even if they profess faith in Jesus Christ, sin is still their practice, and not obedience to God. For self is still on the throne, and not God. So they continue to live for the flesh and not for Jesus Christ.

And depending upon which category you find yourself in will depend upon whether or not you have been delivered (saved) out of your slavery to sin, and whether or not you, then, have eternal life with God. For we are not delivered (saved) from our sins on the basis of lip service only to God. For faith in Jesus Christ, if it is genuine biblical faith, will result in us denying self, dying to sin, and walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in his power, by his grace, though not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Acts 26:18]

The Wise vs The Foolish
An Original Work / January 22, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love