I. The Word: Luke 6:46-49

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Reflection Questions

1. Can you think of a time when you disobeyed something your parents told you, only to find out that it would have been better to have listened to them all along?
2. Why is it important for obedience to be a two step process?

Toddlerhood is quite the hood. It’s this wonderful, exhausting, frustrating, beautiful, very hands-on stage of life with your kids where they really want to begin to explore the big, wide world. They are fun and curious and BUSY at this age, and at times they are completely irrational, emotional, and will make no sense whatsoever. They begin to find their voice and toddle into some independence, and they would like to think that they can do everything on their own, or as my daughter used to say when she was about three, “I’m the boss!” This is also where the work of discipline is introduced as a parent. Although they would love to try and do everything their little heart desires, they do not yet have an understanding of the dangers around them, so it is imperative that they learn to obey the voice of their Mommy and Daddy to keep them safe. My daughter needed to know who was really the “boss”, not only for the principle’s sake but because it just would not make any sense to let a three year old govern themselves and be left to their own choices.

As soon as our kids were old enough to understand we would ask them, “What does it mean to obey?”, and the response we taught them was, “Listen and do.” We wanted them to comprehend, right from the beginning, that obedience is not obedience unless you are actually doing what is asked of you, not only merely hearing or listening to it.

You know what’s funny?  Having a now pre-teen and a new teenager, it’s like toddlerhood volume two, ten plus years later. There is the desire to assert independence, test boundaries, explore a “new” world, and at times they are completely irrational, emotional, and make no sense whatsoever! But now the relationship with us as parents and obedience takes on a different role. They will have a choice to make, many times over, to listen and do what we ask of them, trusting that the decisions we make and boundaries we set are for their good, or they will choose to listen to what we say and then do what they want to. It’s the three year old saying all over again, “I’m the boss!” This is a brave new world for our family that we are just now beginning to navigate, and my prayer is that they will trust God and us as parents and make those good decisions.

If Jesus is Lord of our lives, we are not only hearing what He says and reading about His ways, but we are actually following and obeying His words. There is a trust required in obedience that God is a good father, and what He has asked of us or boundaries He has placed in His word are for our good, because He loves us and knows what’s best for us. But if we’re honest, there are moments when the teenager in us wants to buck against someone telling us what to do because we want to be the boss and we think we know what is best for our lives. Luke 6:46 challenges all of us to take a good look at ourselves to reveal who is really lord of our lives. If we are listening and doing what Jesus told us to do, then He is Lord. If we are listening to Him, know about Him, know the right words to say, but are doing what we want to, picking and choosing from His word what we feel best applies to us and disregarding the rest, then we are functionally acting as lord of our own lives. And as James 1:22 tells us, if we are hearers of the word only and not doers, we are deceiving ourselves into thinking we have fully surrendered our lives to the Lordship of Christ when in reality we are still fully seated on the throne of our own hearts.

The verses following Luke 6:46 (47-49) give the implications of what happens for each scenario. Will our house be built on a solid foundation that will last, or have we built ourselves up on shaky, unpredictable, ground that will ultimately not withstand the storms of life?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me continue to discover the true meaning of lordship and understand what a life fully surrendered to Your will and Your way looks like. Holy Spirit, reveal to me any places where I have deceived myself into thinking that I am fully surrendered but functionally am still acting like the boss of my own life and like I know better than You what’s best for me. Thank you for being such a wonderful, loving Father that cares enough for us to set healthy boundaries in order to protect us and keep us from danger. And Jesus, thank You for laying down Your life for me to give me the grace (power) to obey Your commands. You can be fully trusted with my whole life and You know what’s best for me. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.