In Matthew 7, Jesus said everyone who hears his words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 

Then he went on to say everyone who hears his words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand (Matthew 7:24-26).

Building on the sand is easier than building on the rock. It costs less. It is faster. The foolish person thinks anything can go wrong, but it probably won’t. But if it does, all I’ll have to do is unplug or preset the rest button, count to 10, then plug things back in.

A simple reboot usually works when the cable television goes out. We reboot our phones and computers to solve so many of our problems. But that is not the way it works in life.

So many people fail to realize life is connected. They seem to think a simple reboot will work with their marriage, their kids, other relationships, their family, their job, their morality, their finances, etc.

They say things like this: If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just get remarried. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just move out and find somebody else. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just file bankruptcy. It’s no big deal. I’ll just hit the reset button and reboot. There is nothing to worry about. It can be fixed.

I have some bad news. A reboot won’t fix these kinds of problems. You can get a new job, get remarried, move to a new house, even a new town where you can start over.

The problem is whenever we move on to the next season of life thinking we can just reboot and start over, we usually take the primary contributor to all of our problems with us. Until we choose a new direction, things will never change.

Jesus went on to tell us about the outcome when we build on the sand. He said, “The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" (Matthew 7:27).

At some point, you’ll have to tear down what you have built and start over. You’ll have to build on the right foundation. You’ll have to do what you should have done in the first place.

When the house falls, you can’t just fix it. You must start over with the foundation. It will take some time, but you’ll have to rebuild, and it will be worth it. We will pick up there next week.

Steve Greene is the lead pastor of The Point in Seymour. Read his blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or email him at [email protected]. Send comments to [email protected].