Beyond the Weekend

September 13 | Teaching: A Collision of Wills

September 13, 2018

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

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. The rains 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.  Matthew 7:24-25

Read: Matthew 7:24-29

Listen: Matthew 7

TODAY’S MESSAGE

Jesus ends the “Sermon on the Mount” by suggesting there will be two responses to his teaching. There will be those who do what he says and there will be those who don’t. His teachings were difficult and counter-cultural—he assumed that everyone listening will have to deal with a collision of wills. Moments where his listeners will either cross their arms and say, “This is a really bad idea and I don’t think so,” or they will choose to follow him. They will either let Jesus win this collision of wills or they won’t. Either they will build their lives on him (a solid rock foundation) or on themselves (a shifting sandy foundation).

It seems like it should be easy to follow Jesus. Honestly, most of us struggle at some point because some of Jesus’ teachings are hard. It’s as if we hire Jesus as our Savior but fire him as our Lord—Lord of our social schedule, relationships, money or time. We are choosing whether to build our lives on the strong foundation of Jesus’ teaching or the ever-shifting foundation of our own desires.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Spend a few minutes reflecting on this question: Where have I fired Jesus as Lord? As you identify areas of your life where Jesus is not Lord, spend your remaining time admitting this to God. Pray something like this, “God I have not allowed you to be the Lord of my whole life. I am sorry for keeping control of ________. God I give ________ to you. Help me to learn to let you win all collisions of will with you. Amen.”


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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