Bible Parables S2E3:Parable Of The Wise And Foolish Builders

The parable of the wise and foolish builders and this comes up in in the gospel of Matthew and the parable starts therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them i will liken them to a wise man who built his house on the rock 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 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 and the rains descended the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall and that's the parable is just four sentences but each of those sentences are very very profound we will now go into the parable sentence by sentence trying to understand what these sentences are trying to say to us 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 and this is an interesting one it starts with these sayings of mine essentially the gospels are about love and in our daily lives we come across these sayings in many places it may be a book that we read or it may be a session that we attend it may be some literature on inner work that we consume these are the sayings and these sayings are all around us and hearing this divine wisdom hearing these universal truths this becomes our first step but it is not enough to merely admire or understand them like i keep repeating in many of my sessions we can we can hear podcasts we can read self-help books but ultimately transformation happens when we take action transformation lies in the doing integrating the teachings into your life through deliberate action also many a times we we read different books we hear different things we hear different suggestions and it's not necessary to accept to integrate all the suggestions be open to the suggestion be open to the teachings and experiment with them keep what works for you drop the rest but yes transformation lies in the doing the rock the rock here represents eternal principles authenticity humility faith love these are principles that transcend the temporary let's take an example this is a very relevant example for us today thinking of the topic of forgiveness and i'm sure all of us have heard about the importance of forgiveness we've either read it in a book or we've heard it in a podcast or we've listened to it on inside timer the importance of forgiveness hearing the teaching or reading about the teaching it's like recognizing the value of building on a rock it's the sayings but when someone wrongs us resentment arises and the act of forgiving despite our pain is how we build on that rock and over the period of time this practice creates inner peace it creates an unshakable house that external events cannot destroy as we keep practicing forgiveness we become better at it we become better at letting go of the hurt letting go of the guilt letting go of the resentment and this practice ultimately it creates in us an unshakable inner peace a house that external events cannot destroy so in our daily application before taking any action before the acting to any situation you can ask yourself am i acting from fleeting emotions or am i acting on the basis of eternal truths and also before taking action i can ask what action will align me with my deeper values and true consistency we lay one stone on the rock foundation at a time and the rains 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 the rains the floods the winds the storms these are all of life's inevitable challenges and i say inevitable challenges inevitable because life is always changing that is the nature of life life never follows a linear pattern there will be joy there will be sorrows there will be grief there will be failure there will be uncertainty and all these forces they test our foundation if we root our life in enduring principles we can face these storms with grace having a house on a rock does not mean that there will be no storms in your life it simply means that the storms cannot destroy you it means that you have the capacity to weather any storm a good example is someone who unexpectedly loses a job now if this person's identity is tied solely to career success which we can call a sand foundation so if this person's identity is tied to success in career an incident like this might spiral them into despair but someone who values personal growth someone who has faith in a greater power and in their potential and that's having a rock foundation they will use this setback to explore new paths they will use this setback as a time for self-reflection they will tend to lean on resilience and a sense of purpose daily application building spiritual storm proofing to practices that strengthen your foundation like meditation to cultivate inner stillness amid the chaos journaling to reaffirm your co-values and regularly connecting with nature connecting with sacred spaces to remind ourselves of life's greater perspective but everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who build his house on sand and the sand simply represents a foundation built on impermanent things impermanent things like social status impermanent things like possessions impermanent things like shallow pursuits and these impermanent things they provide us with temporary comfort but they simply lack the depth to withstand life's unpredictability the foolish builder knows the truth but avoids the efforts of acting on it prioritizing ease over depth so many times so many times we we give more importance to instant gratification than actually doing the work sometimes we will avoid doing the work and simply do something else that makes us feel better i see this a lot happening especially nowadays with the different modalities that are available like like let's say meditation for example meditation and meditation should not be considered and you can think of meditation or you can think of reiki or you can think of energy healing these should not be considered as an end in itself meditation is merely a tool to go deeper into yourself to understand yourself better but work that needs to be done the actual work that needs to be done still needs to be done for example we can be saying the ho'oponopono prayer every day and when we are saying it it makes us feel good because when we do the repeated chanting it really makes us feel good but we still need to go out and take action and not rely on these modalities simply for immediate gratification as an example of building on sand you can think of someone who seeks validation on social media happiness starts getting tied to likes happiness starts getting tied to comments and as long as the likes are coming the good comments are coming in we feel we feel good but when a criticism comes when there's a decline in attention when my post is not generating the attention i think it needs to generate suddenly there's this feeling of being unmoved in contrast someone who finds joy in personal fulfillment creating art helping others or simply spending time in inner reflection a person like this will be able to remain steady regardless of the praise or the criticism they see from the outside so in your own life try to identify where you might be building where you might be building on sand and you can ask yourself am i pursuing this for fleeting satisfaction or true fulfillment you can also ask yourself am i avoiding hard but necessary actions for easy but empty ones and then redirect your energy towards the efforts that bring lasting meaning and essentially these efforts will require discipline and patience and nowadays this is a question that i always bring to myself i keep in mind when i'm switching on the tv to watch netflix and even if i'm watching something i am very very intentional of what i am watching because sometimes it can be so easy to lean towards instant gratification to lean towards distractions to avoid doing what work needs to be done and the rain descended the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house and it fell and great was its fall a house built on sand when there's no turmoil in our life it's easy to manage but then that's not the nature of life right life always has its ups and downs life always is changing and a life built on sand may seem stable in calm weather but the moment a storm comes its fragility gets revealed the great fall this signifies not just the external collapse but the inner turmoil of realizing you have neglected what truly matters and this line is not a condemnation but it's a warning it's an invitation it's an invitation to rebuild consciously to live your life consciously an example of someone in a toxic relationship someone in a toxic relationship who knowingly chooses to ignore red flags that's the sand knowingly ignoring the red flags they avoid honest communication they avoid self-work and they keep building their life around denial and when the relationship ends they face not only heartbreak but that deeper pain of confronting their neglect of their self-worth the fall if seen as a lesson need not be permanent so when we are faced with fallen houses in our life fallen houses can be a failed project it can be a relationship breakdown it can be personal burnout it can be not meeting your goals it can also be not showing up for someone it can be not keeping a promise fallen houses in our lives when you're faced with a fallen house see this as an opportunity to start anew to start anew by building your foundation on rock and the beautiful part about life is that at any point in time we always have a second chance as long as we are willing to try life always gives us an opportunity the questions you can ask yourself are what truths have i ignored and how can i honor this truth now how can i use this moment to grow stronger and when we are coming to the end of the year many people including myself have this habit of taking stock of what has happened in the whole year in terms of achievements in terms of failures in terms of challenges in terms of opportunities and this is a good question to ask yourself in the last year what truths have you ignored and what changes can you do to honor these truths in the coming year and using this knowledge how can you grow stronger so in our daily life choose long term over short term when tempted with instant gratification and instant gratification can come in so many forms it can show up as overspending it can show up as procrastination it can show up as endlessly scrolling on instagram or facebook it can show up as binge watching on netflix when tempted by instant gratification remind yourself of the rock and start to build habits start to build habits like saving like planning like investing like expanding your knowledge habits that will weather time strengthen your inner world dedicate time every day to strengthen your inner foundation whether it's through prayer whether it's through meditation whether it's through mindfulness whether through reading the sacred book over time this inner work it becomes a reservoir of resilience and resilience is what enables us to weather the ups and downs of life embrace storms as teachers whenever a challenge comes instead of resisting the challenge you can ask what is this storm revealing about my foundation what is the storm revealing about my foundation and how can i grow stronger through this and this is simply another way of saying reframe your challenges into opportunities and in every experience that life takes us through there is a lesson to be learned have you learned the lessons that need to be learned and finally rebuild when necessary don't fear starting over a part of your life that has been built on sand sometimes we tell ourselves that it's too late or that time has passed but put that fear aside if there is a part of your life that has been built on sand started over rebuilding on rock might take longer but rebuilding on rock will give you peace will give you fulfillment will give you resilience that no storm in your life can take no matter if your foundations are built on rock no matter what ups or downs come in your life you will have the resilience to move past it to learn from it so it's a short parable it's just just four lines four lines it it doesn't even take two minutes to read through but the meaning that it has is immense and by simply applying the lessons of the parable and the lesson is as simple as don't build on sand build on rock by applying this lesson by keeping in mind this concept it's not just life storms that we can survive but we can transform ourselves to them and we can build a life that that has enduring meaning that has purpose every choice every action every moment of awareness becomes a stone in the house of your soul so build wisely so we will go now into a guided meditation based on the parable based on the sand based on the rock if you are sitting relax in your seat if you are sleeping feel the surface beneath you support you and if you are walking around if you are moving if you are engaged in some activity simply relax while you're doing it if it is safe to do so you can close your eyes take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth feel the earth beneath you supporting your body and imagine with each breath you're drawing in calmness with each breath you're drawing in calmness and with each exhale you're releasing any tension you're releasing any distraction breathe in and breathe out feel yourself settling into the moment present open in and picture yourself standing in a beautiful open field the sun is warm on your skin and the breeze carries a sense of peace in the distance you see two builders one on a solid rocky hill and the other on a sandy plain walk closer to the builders and observe each builder's process the builder on the rock is calm he is deliberate he is focused you can see him carefully measuring and laying each stone the builder on the sand moves quickly piling up materials with little concern for the foundation there's a sense of haste there's a sense of restlessness notice how each of their energy feels different which builder do you resonate with at this moment what does their approach stir within you now turn your attention inward imagine your life as a house a beautiful sacred structure that you are building every day through your thoughts beliefs and actions ask yourself what is the foundation of my life my beliefs are they rooted in truth stability and spiritual principles do i sometimes place my trust in fleeting unstable sources like fear doubt or external circumstances and without judgment notice if anything arises now visualize your foundation visualize the foundation that you have built your life on and if it feels shaky or uncertain imagine yourself standing on a firm unshakable rock this rock represents divine truth this rock represents wisdom this rock represents love eternal principles that guide and support you and say silently to yourself i build my life on the rock of faith i trust the divine power within me to create a stable and harmonious life i am unshakable no matter what storms may come and feel the strength of this foundation beneath you steady and eternal allow it to fill you with confidence allow it to fill you with peace now imagine clouds gathering in the distance rain begins to fall the wind starts to pick up these represent life's challenges moments of doubt moments of fear moments of hardship but as the storm surrounds you notice how your house built on the rock remains firm feel the power of your foundation holding strong against the wind holding strong against the rain and see to yourself i am safe i am grounded no external circumstance can shake my inner truth i weather life's storms with ease and grace watch the storms pass watch the storm pass leaving behind a bright clear sky feel the peace and renewal that comes after facing life's challenges with faith now shift your attention to the sandy plain where the other builder's house once stood it has collapsed in the storm and you feel compassion for this builder's experience and reflect on any areas of your life that may feel unstable that are built on sand whether it's a reliance on external validation whether it's the fear of the unknown or whether it's thoughts of lack and say to yourself i release the sand of fear and doubt i choose to rebuild these areas on the rock of truth and visualize yourself lifting any fragile parts of your life and carrying them to the solid rock as you place them there see them grow strong supported by the unchanging foundation beneath them take a deep breath in and as you exhale affirm your commitment to build your life with wisdom and faith repeat silently or out loud i build my life on a foundation of love truth and divine wisdom i trust in the eternal strength within me to create stability and harmony i am aligned with the rock of spirit unshakable and serene and feel these words resonate deeply in your heart gradually bring your awareness back to your body wiggle your fingers wiggle your toes feel the surface beneath you supporting you just like the rock supports your foundation and when you're ready gently open your eyes carry the peace and strength of this meditation as you go about your journey remember that each thought each belief each action is a brick in the house of your life build consciously build wisely and trust in the divine foundation beneath you so building your life on the rock of truth what action can we take in our daily life the first action comes up in nearly all of my sessions it's daily deflection it's very important whether you're doing spirituality or whether you're doing psychology it doesn't matter daily deflection spending a few moments each day deflecting on the foundation of your life are my thoughts are my beliefs are my actions rooted in truth love and stability whatever i have done in the day today have i built it on rock or have i built it on sand and journaling helps to journaling these reflections it helps to bring clarity and helps us to identify intention so daily reflection secondly affirmations affirm your foundation i build my life on the rock of divine wisdom and love i trust the unchanging strength of spirit within me to guide my steps so use affirmations to affirm your foundation thirdly anchor in the storm the next time you face a challenge pause and remind yourself of your spiritual foundation storms will come and storms will go but truth remains unshakable replace sand with rock and this is where we talk about change work replacing sand with rock to start with identify at least one area of your life that feels uncertain that feels unstable for example you can commit to replacing fear-driven thoughts with constructive faith-filled ones so if you fear financial lack you can replace thoughts with thoughts of i don't have enough with i am supplied by infinite abundance also spend some time practicing visualization visualize your life as a well-built house standing on solid rock imagine the strength the beauty the harmony that this brings into your relationships into your health into your aspirations inspire others create that ripple effect share the wisdom of this parable with someone in your life discuss how they can strengthen their own foundation by aligning with spiritual truth and when we inspire others when we start to create that ripple effect we are raising the consciousness of humanity itself to a higher level and every day try to be intentional take one conscious action that reinforces your commitment to building on rock whether it's practicing gratitude whether it's meditating or whether it's affirming your faith in divine order take one conscious action to build on dock thank you everyone for being here love light blessings namaste