You, With or Without a Foundation?

November 13th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Luke 6:47-49 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Every preacher and prophet worth their salt proclaims God’s word with a single mission: to transform the lives of those who hear the word of God. Their purpose is to glorify God by preaching His word, but their mission in preaching is to transform broken lives and lead them to repentance—salvation in Christ alone. Jesus, the greatest preacher who ever walked the earth, was no different. He did not preach to be admired for His oratorical skills; rather, He taught what He taught to transform lives. Thus, He gave instructions to be obeyed, not admired.

Jesus compares those who seek Him, hear Him, and act on His words to a wise man who, when he builds a house, builds on a rock foundation. A house built on such a foundation will endure through wind and rain because rock will remain stable. The “rock” in the Bible also is a reference to Jesus Himself (Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4; 1 Peter 2:8). Thus, when one comes to Jesus, hears Jesus, and acts on His words, they trust Him for salvation, establishing their faith upon His promises. They give their lives to Him, worshiping Him through obedience.

There are only two choices here: obedience to Christ or disobedience; a little of both qualifies as disobedience. Yet until the storms of life come upon them, one is indistinguishable from the other. Only during a time of calamity will the wise man be noticed above the fool. Both own homes, have families, attend church, go to work each day, etc. Their lives look almost exactly alike. But when trials come upon them—when a flood occurred and a torrent burst—the wise man whose faith and obedience are in Christ stands out above the man who merely heard Jesus’ words but did not obey. The wise man understands that trials are a part of life; the fool shakes his fist at God, wondering “why me?” complaining that God is doing him some injustice. All of this will be exposed when trials come. One will fail, the other will thrive.

The wise man hears and heeds Christ’s words, evaluating and implementing those words of life into every facet of his life. By contrast, the one who builds his faith on worldly treasures—who merely admires the words of Jesus without obeying them—is a shallow thinker, troubled by the fluctuating economy, the insecurity of his retirement, his health, and stressing over who the next president might be. He wants his life to look nice, being more concerned with his carnality than his piety. But when the stock market crashes, after he loses his job, if he receives a cancer diagnosis or the death of a loved one, his entire life crumbles to the ground—“immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great” (v. 49). He resembles the seed in Jesus’ parable that fell on rocky ground. The plant indeed shot up from the soil, but the rocky ground beneath choked the roots, and the plant withered (Matt. 13:21). The rocky ground represents the trials and toils of life, and when they enter into the life of one who merely looks like a Christian but has failed to build on a foundation of truth, they will be exposed for what they truly are: charlatans.

Food For Thought
Many professed Christians are living a lie. They fool themselves as to their spiritual standing before God, they fool their friends, and they even fool the pastor of their church. They know how to sound Christian and how to live in the Christian culture. But they aren’t fooling Christ! God knows who belongs to Him and who doesn’t (cf. Matt. 7:21-23). But we can know whether we belong to Him by whether we long to serve and obey Him. So ask yourself, “Do I live my life to please Christ, reading the Bible in order that I might learn to obey His teachings?” Or, “Do I live my life to please myself, disregarding the teachings of Scripture and assuaging my conscience with the idea that God is too in love with me to ever judge me?” If you are the former, then you will be invited into Christ’s kingdom to share in the joy of your Master (Matt. 25:21). If you’re the latter, although you might passionately call Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” He will respond to you, saying, “Depart from Me. I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23).