The Parable of Preparedness

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27, NKJV).

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 did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:25).

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 and had two very different experiences 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 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. 

Sadly, there will be another group of Christians, people of whom Jesus says, “Their fall will be great.” 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’re building into our faith certain characteristics that will determine how we react under pressure.