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Once there were two men who each wanted to build a house for himself and his family. They both went to a wise man who told them how to build a strong house that would last a long time. We'll call them Sam and Joe, although that was not their real names.
Sam went right out and built his house just like the wise man told him too, out of strong materials, and attached the house to a strong rock foundation. Soon after the house was finished, there was a big storm and it rained very hard, so hard that the nearby river flooded over onto the street where the house was built. The water rushed by the rock foundation, and pushed hard on the walls of the house, but the house stood firmly attached to that rock foundation and did not fall down. Sam and his family stayed safe and dry.
Because Sam listened to the wise man and built his house the way the wise man told him to, he showed that he was also very wise and so his house was saved.
Joe decided not to follow the wise man's instructions and built his house out on a sandy strip, maybe close to the ocean and all. We don't know why he decided to build his house out there on the sand; perhaps he liked the view better or something. Anyway, he didn't listen to the wise man.
When the storm hit, the waters rose up (remember? the river ran over onto the street?) and the flood pushed against the Joe's house too. Because the house was not attached to anything, and was just sitting on top of the sand, the sand washed away, and the house fell down.
Remember how the sand washes out from around your toes when you stand on the beach and a wave comes up? Imagine what that would do to a house! The house fell over, as we have just said, and Joe and his family had to sit out in the rain all night.
Since the other man did not listen to the wise man, we know that he was not wise, and his house was ruined.
This is what we should learn from this story:
Jesus is the wise man who knows how to build good houses. More importantly, He knows the right way for us to live our lives, so if we listen to Him, we won't get into trouble like Joe and his family.
If we ignore Jesus' wise instructions and try to live by our own rules, we may have a disaster and no one else will be able to help us.