By Rebekah Harvey

Why do people look for shortcuts? As a kid you might have pushed all the mess in your room under the bed when you were told to go clean your room. If you didn’t do that, you might have someone in your life that tries to get away with that now. Taking shortcuts in life can seem good at the moment but in the long run can prove to be a costly choice.

Matthew 7:24 “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: 25 “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. 26 “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: 27 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

When Jesus spoke the above words He was teaching the multitudes, He was giving instructions on how to live, what to do when people come after and persecute you. He talked about not having hatred in our hearts because it puts us in great danger, he spoke about being reconciled with our brother if he has something against us, not only did He speak about not committing adultery but dealing with the thoughts that come before the action. He also spoke about keeping our word, let your yes be yes and your no be no, and He taught much more to the people at this time.

These are the sayings that we are to keep if we want to be wise. Read Matthew chapters 5-7. Many of these things are hard to do, especially without the help of the Lord. But we can make the choice to build wisely, there will be hard work and self denial involved and diligent training required. There are no shortcuts to success if we are to win God’s way.

Just as Jesus spoke in Matthew we will all face storms, rains and fierce winds of adversity of some kind in our lives whether it is with relationships, jobs, finances, health or otherwise. The choice of either embracing and applying the words that Jesus has spoken or ignoring them is going to determine the outcome for us, if we will be wise or foolish.

So the next time you are tempted to take a shortcut ask yourself, is this the easy way or the right way? Is this a rock or sand decision? James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” To be a wise person building a house on the rock we have to do more than hear what is being said, we need to put it into action.