Whoever Hears These Words of Mine . . .

Just suppose I was having some serious issues in my walk with God. Imagine I felt like God was far, far away, and really didn’t understand what I was going through. Not only do I have doubts about Him and His love for me, but I even have doubts about how lovable I am. Why would He care about me in the first place? Suppose my talking to Him felt like I was talking to a wall, and that my prayers never went any higher than the ceiling. Opening up to Him was awkward and difficult because I do not like to be vulnerable, or am afraid what I say “can and will be used against me in a court of law”. I am miserable with Him . . . and . . . I know I would be miserable without Him! What a horrible way to go through life!!! How did I ever get to this point of things being such a colossal mess? (This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to husband and wife.)

Now suppose someone was to come along and say they knew how to help me with these problems. They understood my fears and struggles and could show me a way to navigate through the minefield of relationship. They even pointed out to me models from God’s word of how I should “Receive—Leave—Cleave—Weave” based upon what we learn about the first man and woman; or build from Covenant to Grace to Empowerment to Intimacy as God does with the Israelites throughout the Old Testament. They explain how God is described from the very start of the Bible story as One who can take a universe of chaos and mess and speak order into it, turning it into something “good”! What a huge help that would be, right?

I remember my mom telling me when I was a child, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Sage wisdom every child needs to hear as they are growing up, right? Jesus made the same basic statement another way when He said, “Therefore, whoever hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock . . . . And whoever hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand” (Matthew 7:24, 26).

Wise . . .

Foolish . . .

They are not determined by whether they had a chance to hear the words of Jesus, or not. They are determined by whether they chose to listen and put them into practice. In fact, neither is promised by listening to the words of Jesus, or even putting them into practice, that they would escape having to face the storms that come with living in this world. What they were promised is that they would stand through them—IF THEY ACTED UPON THEM!!!

The Love Dare . . . Dynamic Marriage . . . Marriage Mentors . . . Celebrate/Recovery . . . A Sermon Series on God’s design for marriage . . . Premarital and Marriage Counseling . . . Libraries of books & videos on marriage & issues that come up within a marriage . . . . Do you get the idea that at Garden Ridge we are concerned about helping people build healthy marriages and enjoy the fullness of what God designed?

None of it matters if you refuse to drink! When the storms come and it feels like your house is crumbling in on top of you, can you honestly say it happened in spite of hearing the teachings of God and acting upon them? None of these resources will work magic in a relationship where one or both of the individuals refuse to change.

The truth is . . . God supplies a GREAT plan for marriage.

The issue is . . . Will you humbly submit to it and change to fit His design?

So, to make use of a few clichés, “The ball is in your court.” “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.” “Whoever hears these words of Mine . . . .” What will you do now?

Click to listen to sermon.

-Scott