Matthew 7:24-25 ESV [24] “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. Every winter and every summer I watch the news and see houses falling into the ocean. In the winter, they get blown away by blizzards and in the summer, hurricanes. They are built on sand. And three or four years later, these same families watch their homes fall into the ocean again. When will they learn? When will we learn to trust God and build our lives on a firm foundation of faith? When we try to do things on our own, ignoring the word of God, things can go very wrong. And yet, we repeat our mistakes over and over again. We trust ourselves, we trust others, but we don't trust God. This time of year reminds me of parents putting toys together for their children or adults putting together more adult gifts. We often think that we know how to do it and ignore that little thing called an instruction booklet. Guilty as charged! I like to refer to the Bible as God's instruction book. I figure that he created us so he should know how we work best. It doesn't make any more sense to ignore God's words than it does to ignore the instruction booklet that tells us how to put together toys, furniture, electronics, etc. We finally turn to the booklet when we have extra parts or the thing falls apart, but it would have been so easy to begin there. It's the same with the word of God, the words of Jesus. Here we find truth, here we find the way to live a fulfilled, happy life. Why don't we pay more attention?