24 “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. 25 The rain 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. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Them BransdonI don’t know a lot about construction, but Jesus' illustration in this passage is crystal clear. Right now it seems like the rain is coming down and the winds are blowing, in all sorts of different directions. I am tempted to build my own foundations in a myriad of worldly ways; financially, socially, medically, in order to get through storms I think I can see coming based on my own ‘wisdom’.What I am encouraged to do by the passage (twice!) is put Jesus' words into practice when I hear them. Too often, perhaps, I think putting His words into practice will be a good thing to do, later. What rarely crosses my mind is that putting Christ’s words into practice, when I hear them, now, is not only a wise, but a necessary thing for survival. The man who builds his house on sand is characterised as foolish, and unprepared. The storms and floods come, as they always will, and his house is destroyed because he didn’t do what he had to do to protect it.The wise man, by contrast has built his house on immovable rock, and his house can weather the storm. Putting God’s Word into practice when we hear it is building our life on a secure foundation; it means making it through every storm, even death itself.I want to be extra mindful when I hear Christ’s words from the Bible this week, so that I can be prepared. Too often, I hear the word, and put it off ‘til later, or put it out of my mind, all the time working on my house while the foundation is made of sand.ABOUT THE AUTHORThom is part of our Fairfield Morning Church