March 13: Foolish

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 7:24-27

On this date in 1917, after hearing that catcher Gabby Street had caught a ball dropped from the Washington Monument, Dodger manager Wilbert Robinson bragged that he could catch a ball dropped from a plane. When they tried the stunt, however, Casey Stengel substituted a grapefruit for the baseball. Robinson circled unsteadily under the descending grapefruit and actually got a glove on it as it splattered across his chest. Robinson felt the ooze, thought it was blood, and screamed that he was dying until he tasted the juice. He later conceded that he probably would have been killed if a real baseball had been dropped from the plane.

Jesus closed the Sermon on the Mount with this parable about wise and foolish builders. He said that those who heard His teachings and put them into practice would be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. When the storms came, the house would stand strong. But, Jesus said, those who heard his words but did not put them into practice would be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. When the storms came, that house fell with a great crash. That truth has not changed. It is foolish for us to build our lives upon anything other than Jesus and His words. It is not enough to know His words with our minds: we have to put them into practice in our hearts. Failing to follow Jesus is just as foolish as trying to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane.

1. Where is your life built today?

2. How is Jesus living through your life?

3. What changes do we need to make to be on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.

Building our lives on the Master is the only way to find happiness and peace in this world and to withstand the storms of life.