“Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.” -Luke 6:47-49
Most people, if you asked them, would say that they would love to have a better character. Wouldn’t you? Some disagree about how to do that. Some doubt if it were even possible. Others wonder how to achieve such a thing, if it were possible. Jesus tells us that it is possible and He tells us how. It’s actually quite a simple recipe that He gives us. It’s no mystery.
Jesus teaches us that character building is like building a house. It takes time to develop, but everyday it will grow if we follow His plan. Then if done rightly, it will stand the tests of various temptations and hardships in this life. The result will be very rewarding! It is achieved by both hearing God’s word and by choosing to believe and to obey it. We have to put it into practice. We should hear and obey God’s word. Do whatever He says! Seek to do it and strive to do it. Pray to do it and take steps to do it. You and I have to be wise. We need to make a choice today and every moment to fill ourselves with Christ’s word and to practice it. In the end we will be blessed by a strong and better character which is more like the character of Jesus.
If we do not obey God’s word (in anything) then we are sowing weakness into our character (just like building upon the sand) which later will reveal itself when the storms of temptation arise in our lives. The weakness of our character will surely show itself when put to the test! When the floods arise our house will fall because it is weak and poorly built (if we have failed to obey God’s word). “The fall of it will be great” Jesus says. How sad and terrible such things will be? How embarrassing and shameful to have a house so poorly and unwisely built that it collapses when the pressures and temptations arise upon us.
But how wonderful it would be if our house stood firm under pressure! For example, how wonderful if our testimony was like that of Joseph who was tempted by Satan (through a married woman in that case, see Gen. 39) and who stood victorious for God! Joseph did not arrive there by accident. Rather, it was by decision after decision every day (little though they may have seemed) that Joseph was able to have a house/character built upon the solid rock of God’s word! By choosing to obey God’s word time after time (rather than lust or some other thing) in the seemingly little things of daily life Joseph was able to develop a pure and holy character that loved righteousness and repulsed evil. We, through Christ, His word (both hearing and choosing to obey), and prayer can be overcomers even like that! Through Christ we can have the victory! Let us seek God daily and choose to obey His word. Also keep in mind that Joseph did not put himself into temptations way or go looking for trouble. He was there by necessity as a slave, just minding his own business and doing his daily work. That’s when Satan brings sin a looking for us! When it tried to take him he knew the best thing was to RUN away! It is manly and Godly to run away from sin when the temptation seems overpowering. Sometimes that is the best thing! Let us not be foolish. Build on the rock as Christ Jesus taught us to do and you will be blessed with more of His strong and righteous character!
