Daily Devotional

January 11

A First Book of Daily Readings

by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (selected by Frank Cumbers)
Reproduced from the OPC Website

He built his house on the sand (i)

What are the characteristics of the foolish man? The first is that he is in a hurry. Foolish people are always in a hurry; they want to do everything at once; they have no time to wait. How often does the Scripture warn us against this! It tells us that the godly, righteous man "shall not make haste." He is never subject to flurry and excitement and hurry. He knows God and he knows that the decrees and purposes and plan of God are eternal and immutable. But the foolish man is impatient; he never takes time; he is always interested in short cuts and quick results.... We are all familiar with this kind of person in ordinary life and quite apart from Christianity. He is the type of man who says, "I must have a house at once; there is no time for foundations." He is always in a hurry.


At the same time, because he has that mentality, he does not trouble to listen to instruction; he does not pay any attention to the rules that govern the construction of a house, [which] ... is a serious matter, and a man who is anxious to build one should ... realize that certain principles of construction should be observed if he is to have a satisfactory and durable edifice....

The wise man is anxious to know the right way to do things, and so he listens to instruction and is prepared to be taught. But the foolish man is not interested in such things; he wants a house; he cannot be bothered about rules and regulations. "Put it up," he says. He is impatient, contemptuous of instruction and teaching, saying that he wants "to get on with it."... Not only is he in too much of a hurry to listen to instruction, but this foolish man also considers it unnecessary. In his opinion his ideas are the best. He has nothing to learn from anybody.... He does not care what has been done in the past but simply follows his own impulses and ideas.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, p. 298