THE PARABLE OF PREPAREDNESS

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:24-27).

Jesus is saying that only things established on a rock foundation will hold up in the coming storm. One man built his house upon a rock ". . . and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock" (verse 25).

The builders of these houses represent two classes of Christians in these last days—the wise and the foolish. They built two different kinds of houses which people were living in when the storm hit.

On one hand, it is encouraging to know there will be a body of believers who will not fall. They will be able to withstand every demonic onslaught that comes out of hell when the storms rage. Jesus wants us to know from this parable that a person who builds his house upon a rock will survive everything that is coming.

Yet, sadly, there will be another group of Christians—people of whom Jesus says, "Their fall will be great" (see verse 27). This means a total, complete, devastating collapse of everything.

At this point, you may be wondering: "What does it mean, exactly, to 'build a house'?" It is important to know that the house Jesus is talking about here is our walk with Him. We are building a foundation of getting to know Christ, of understanding His ways. We are building into our faith certain characteristics that will determine how we react under pressure.