A favorite scene in the popular movie Forrest Gump shows Forrest running and a crowd following him. He has been running for two years and not saying a word. He stops, and the following crowd can’t wait to hear his profound first words. After the breathless pause, he says, “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now."

Not the profundity they were expecting! When people, whom we deem significant, finally speak we long to hear what they say. Who is the most significant person in the universe? Of course, it is God himself. When he speaks, something happens.

He spoke, and creation came into existence. He spoke to Moses, and Israel as a covenant people came into existence. He spoke fully by sending Jesus as the Word of God to reveal his thoughts in a way that any hearing heart could understand.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed he heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. -- Hebrews 1:1-2

Jesus, Lord Over All

Jesus has been made Lord over all (Acts 2:36), and his words carry the weight of sovereignty. Contrary to current fantasies, everyone's words do not have the same weight of truth. Jesus is truth, and all his words are true. As he closes out the most famous sermon ever preached, he said,

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. -- Matthew 7:24-27

The significance of this declaration was that Jesus was differentiating between his interpretation of truth and that which the religious leaders had called the word of God. Even today, Bible verses interpreted without the aid of Jesus, the living Word, are a form of manmade religion, and they can be very dangerous.

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The Foundation of Truth

The cosmic battle has always been about the truth of what God says. The serpent challenged God's word to Adam and Eve. Pagan religions denied the word of God as it was given to Israel. Herod tried to stop the word of God from being fulfilled by killing the young boys when Jesus was born. The Pharisees had replaced the word of God with their own traditions.

Jesus told a parable about his kingdom in terms of sowing seed, and it revealed the various responses to the word of God. The devil stole some of the seeds. Some were scorched by persecution. Some were choked by the busyness of daily life. Some fell on good soil and produced fruit -- the same fruit as the wise man who built on the rock. It is a clear teaching of scripture that the words of the Lord are essential.

We can reject them in favor of some other opinion. Or we can neglect them by refusing to take advantage of their availability. Either way, we lose. Neglect has the same effect as rejection in this case. The word does not produce life.

A house built on anything but the rock-solid truth of God's word revealed in Jesus is going to fall at some point.

The original Liar is actively replacing God's truth with lies. These lies that replace the word will produce death. One of the most prominent lies is that we can ignore the words of the Lord and still succeed in his creation. But his words don't fail.

A house built on anything but the rock-solid truth of God's word revealed in Jesus is going to fall at some point. The rain will come. The winds will blow. The house will fall. Whether it is one's personal life, the family, the business, the church, or the government -- it will not stand.

Listening to the Lord

God has shown his mercy in giving us his word and the promised power to align with it. Rejecting his mercy is serious. He will continue to love the fallen as a Father cares for his children, and there is no pit too deep that he can't deliver, but there are consequences that follow foolishness -- which cause pain to many.

It is not a light thing when a person or a society rejects or neglects the word of God. Mocking Jesus and his words might seem to be funny on late-night talk shows, but there are rains coming to reveal the foolishness of such.

But there is great promise to those who hear and embrace the word of the sovereign Lord. A house built on that solid foundation will withstand whatever comes against it. It will be productive as the seed of the word grows. Since Jesus is Lord, we should listen to his word and be eager to make it a priority to implement it in every aspect of our lives.

Jesus is lord -- and he has spoken! What he says is profound. Listen. Hear. Build your house on it.