Build a substantial, durable life
Daily Scripture
Matthew 7:13-27
“Do Unto Others” campaign
This week, after the first sermon in the “Do Unto Others” series, we’re reading nearly all of Jesus’ “platform,” the Sermon on the Mount. Daily readings are a bit longer than usual, but we believe you’ll find it valuable to have an overview of the principles Jesus said build the best possible life.
13 “Go in through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to destruction is broad and the road wide, so many people enter through it. 14 But the gate that leads to life is narrow and the road difficult, so few people find it.
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you dressed like sheep, but inside they are vicious wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruit. Do people get bunches of grapes from thorny weeds, or do they get figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, and every rotten tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit. And a rotten tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore, you will know them by their fruit.
21 “Not everybody who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 On the Judgment Day, many people will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name and expel demons in your name and do lots of miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I’ll tell them, ‘I’ve never known you. Get away from me, you people who do wrong.’
24 “Everybody who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise builder who built a house on bedrock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house. It didn’t fall because it was firmly set on bedrock. 26 But everybody who hears these words of mine and doesn’t put them into practice will be like a fool who built a house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house. It fell and was completely destroyed.”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Jesus would likely end a convention speech by telling listeners that the principles of his kingdom provide a solid foundation for a purposeful life. It can feel risky trying to live by Jesus’ principles. They run counter to much “conventional wisdom,” and it can be hard to know how to apply those principles to specific situations. The current context of political division and social media amplification can make applying these teachings feel even scarier. Pastor Hamilton wrote that we must not let fear stop us from setting out on that course: “To live is to risk. If you always choose the risk-free, completely safe, and convenient path in life, you’ll find the failure you experience is the failure to truly live.” * You’d like to leave a lasting positive impact on the world, right? To build a life that stands the test of time, Jesus said, take the apparent risk of building that life on his principles.
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Roman philosopher Seneca said what matters about life is “not how long it is, but how good it is.” ** Jesus added that the easiest road seldom leads to the best life. He said, “Go in through the narrow gate” (verse 13) and “the gate that leads to life is narrow and the road difficult, so few people find it” (verse 14). Jesus’ path isn’t always easy or comfortable, but he assured his hearers that it leads to the best life in the long run. In a world full of alluring but ultimately fruitless options, this challenges you to make wise choices. When have you had to choose between an easy but wrong way, and another that was difficult but right? What did you decide? When have you benefited from choosing the right course? What steps can you take to ensure your actions align with Jesus’ teachings, particularly the Golden Rule? How can you apply Jesus’ “fruit test” to evaluate the messages that influence you, especially in social media and politics?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, set me free to more and more live in your kingdom. Transform me until I want what you want and fix my eyes daily on you. Amen.
GPS Insights
Hannah Meyer
Hannah Meyer serves as a Mentor in Student Ministry at Resurrection West. She and her husband, James have attended Resurrection West for 5 years. She enjoys encouraging students to live their best life with God and creating community with middle school and high school students. Outside of work and serving in student ministry, she loves watching her 3-year-old daughter in gymnastics and cheer.
This past Summer I helped take our 7th and 8th grade students on a serve trip to Arkansas. My small group helped two people and their families and we called them “our neighbor.” This helped remind us and our students that these people we would be helping are just like any other neighbor we could have in our lives, but also reminds us of the commandment to love our neighbor.
Our 1st neighbor was a veteran who had lived in his parent’s house all his life and needed some extra help on his yard. Helping on the yard was the easy part, but we also tried to show our students the importance of building relationships with our neighbors. While doing so, there were a lot of opportunities where our students could have made a comment about how they were living, or about the pictures on the walls from the Civil War, or even made a face when our neighbor brought out these 3 dolls that his mother had hand painted when she was alive. These dolls, although a bit scary at first, grew on us. Our students waited until an appropriate time by ourselves to ask questions about the Civil War photos that could have been controversial. This was them taking the more difficult road and treating our neighbor with love and compassion.
The other neighbor we helped that week needed help with storm clean up. His initial story made some of our students question why he needed our help and could not hire help–he appeared to be “well off.” As our students listened and heard more about his story, they learned that he was the only person in his neighborhood with a chainsaw and had helped everyone else with their clean up first before he tackled his own. By the time he got to his own house he was exhausted and at a loss. Again, our students could have said something, or they could have just not helped, but they chose to help but also listened to learn more.
Two completely different households who both asked for help in a time of need. Two examples of our students showing what the Golden Rule is, including that that sometimes the right thing is not the easy thing. They easily could have said what they thought at first glance without thinking, but they didn’t. As adults we might say this is common sense but think about moments like this where you stopped and listened instead of saying your thoughts off of 1st impressions. It’s an important life lesson.
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Hamilton, Adam. Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times (p. 87). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
** From https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/60959-as-is-a-tale-so-is-life-not-how-long
