Hearing the word and Putting into Practice

Matthew 7:24-27

7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

7:25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

7:26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

7:27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

There are two kinds of people. There is one who does and doesn't put it into practice. There are two kinds of faith. There is one wise faith and one foolish faith. How can it be distinguished? It is distinguished with actions and deeds. After hearing, did you put it into practice? That is how it is distinguished. When hearing the word and put it into practice, that is when the glory of God can be revealed.

Our foundation of faith is important. We are also building a house of our lives and the foundation of faith is important.

It is said here,1 Corinthians 3:10-11, that the foundation is Jesus Christ. If we build our houses on this foundation of Jesus Christ, then we can be a proud person.

Jesus said the wise builder is one built on the rocks. He is saying the ones who hear the words and puts it into practice is mine. That person in so many troubles and adversity will never get ruined and destroyed. I wish that by putting the words into practice, that you will be the wise builders.

Right after Sermon on the Mount he meets a man with leprosy. It is recorded here the way that Jesus heals the man with leprosy. The story where Jesus embraces the one that is so hard to embrace and love the one that is so hard to love, Jesus shows mercy and heals this person. Jesus reveals his power of love. Not only does Jesus teach this and not only does he say these things, he really lives this way with his whole body. He really did live this way.

Jesus said that the wise one is the one who hears my words and puts it into practice. We also wish to be the ones who act and put into practice this love of Jesus. I wish that this love of Christ could truly be incarnated inside all our lives and be revealed in all our lives.

Where are the other nine?


Luke 17:11-19

17:11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

17:12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance

17:13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

17:14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

17:15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.

17:16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan.

17:17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?

17:18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

17:19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

This story is telling us that only one out of the ten people came back and praised God. Only one person came back to praise God and thank Him. Jesus asked, "Where are the other nine?"

Even though Jesus loved a lot of people, only one person came back. Jesus cured 10 people, but only one person came. He must be really hurt. They turned back on Jesus' love. A lot of people didn't know that thankful heart.

By looking at this, we should think about what kind of people we are. We shouldn't be people who only thank him for 1 thing even though we get 10 things. We shouldn't turn back on the love.

It says only one gentile came back and thanked God. It means that he loves Jesus more. There are people who came out and among them were the Samaritan gentiles. Those people who received more love should have thanked him more, but they did not thank him.

We have this kind of attitude that even though we receive a lot of love, we turn our backs on that love. We shouldn't become people who hurt God's feelings. I hope that we become people who give back all the love to Jesus that we receive. The real fruit is the fruit of love. With love and thankfulness, we have to go to God when we receive a lot of love.

We shouldn't become one of those 9 people that hurt Jesus' feelings. Let us become like that one person who goes toward Jesus. When we receive a lot of things, we have to remember this message. Where are the other nine? I hope we remember that sad voice. We have to put out effort so that we will not hear that voice again.

One more thing that we have to remember is that when we love others, even though one out of ten people come to thank us, we have to walk the path of faith thinking about Jesus who took all those people. The core of the Bible is this. I hope that we all become the precious fruit of love.