Built on the Rock

When I was growing up, my favorite song to sing in primary was (and could still be ;) ) "The Wise Man and the Foolish man" I loved making the actions to the words. I recently read Matthew 7 the other day and read the scriptural inspiration for this song as Christ taught it to the people on the mount.

"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."

I realized as I read this passage that the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew not only on the foolish man's house, but the wise man's house as well. Contrary to what we may want to believe, building our lives on the teachings of Christ does not guarantee an easy life. Not at all. A wise father once told his children,

And now, my sons [and daughters], remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

While we live the principles we learn by diligent scripture study, we are still going to face many challenging times.We have a magnificent promise by our loving God - We will stand firm. We CANNOT fall!