Wise and Foolish Builders | Matthew 7:24-29

Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!

Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching,

for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes.

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In the book of Matthew, Jesus is teaching the crowd to trust and practice the word of the Lord. Use the words that Jesus gives them as a foundation to live your life. 

Whenever I hear the word “foundation,” it reminds me of a story. A few years ago, Ed, another Pinecrester, and myself were working on renovating a building for my dad. A new external stairway was being built and needed a foundation in place. Two 20-foot plywood pillars were made to pour concrete in. With the first pillar, Ed and I mixed the concrete, wheelbarrowed it up the hill, and poured into the foundation. This took almost the entire day, mixing, pouring, repeating. At the end of the day, we decided to get a cement truck to pour the second pillar, quick and easy. However, the next day, the cement truck poured the cement and the pillar failed, leaving concrete everywhere. Wasting an entire day with Eddie cleaning up the mess. 

Jesus in this story is telling us to use his words and teachings as a foundation for our lives. When challenges come our way, we can face them because of the practices and lessons of Jesus. I like to think of it further. It's not just the word of the Lord that creates our foundation, but our loved ones around us. We create our foundations through our families, Pinecrest community, and friends when we practice the word of the Lord together. Just like the story, Ed and I worked together to pour the concrete into the pillar. Yes it was hard and took the whole day, but we got it done. When we used the shortcut, the other pillar failed. Challenges and hardships take time to figure out and heal. Nothing truly happens overnight. The foundations you make with your loved ones and Jesus will take time. They will give you that strong foundation to conquer any storm, just like the one Ed and I built for the stairway.

Gregory Esposito

Emanuel Lutheran Church, Pleasantville NY

Pinecrest Alumni 2015-2025

The Last Vice President 2022