Isaiah 26:1-6 / Matthew 7:21, 24-27
When we think about life, there are many lessons that we can learn from it.
For example, difficult roads always lead to beautiful destinations, as when we are climbing up a mountain and when we get to the summit we are rewarded with a beautiful vision and a sense of achievement.
One of the truths of life is that hard work will have its rewards.
Building something on rock is certainly not easy at all. Piling the foundations into the rock is going to be very hard work. But the reward is that the building will be stable and will stand firm.
Building something on sand can be easy but it will be risky. That is what Jesus is telling us in today's gospel.
But the example of building something on rock and on sand is to bring in the point about how we listen to the Word of God and act on them.
Following the teachings of Jesus and doing God's will is certainly difficult and entails a lot of hard work of denying ourselves.
But the reward will be what we heard in the 1st reading: That day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city.
Facing the difficulties and challenges of our faith require a lot of hard work on our part but the reward will be that the foundations of our faith will be firm.
And God will guard us along the way as He sets wall and rampart about us. When we build our lives on God our Rock and stand firm with Him, He will stand firm with us. And Jesus promises us that we will not fall. Let us trust in Him and continue to build on the Lord our Rock.