The Wise And Foolish Builders (Poem)

Poem for Friday

About three or so years ago, I was given permission by a man to put his book of parables in poetry online. I put several up, but there didn't seem to be that much interest, and this project got lost in the shuffle. Perhaps posting some of them here might be the impetus I need to get the rest online. Let me know what you think of these. Click on the author's name below for more of Jesus' parables retold in poetry (and his Preface to his booklet, entitled Parables Of Jesus In Verse). I will add more to what is available online shortly.

Parable One: The Wise And Foolish Builders
(Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 6:46-49)

How wonderful it would have been to live in Jesus' time,
To sit at Jesus' feet and hear His words of truth sublime!
For no one taught as Jesus taught when He was here on earth,
Yet now we still may heed His words and recognize their worth.

"Whoever hears my words," He said, "and lives by them as well,
Is like a man who built a house in which he planned to dwell,
Because he was a prudent man, he built on solid rock,
So that whatever storm might come, it could withstand the shock.
His foresight proved well justified, for when the storm did come,
The raging wind and rain and flood could not destroy that home.
The solid base on which it stood enabled it to stand
Against the fiercest elements, just as its builder planned.
But he who hears the Word of Truth, and does not pay good heed,
Is like a man who built on sand, and foolish was indeed;
The house he built with such a base so recklessly and rash,
When wind and rain and flood struck hard, fell with a mighty crash."

Dear reader, do not build your life without a solid base,
But look to Jesus as you build, and seek His sovereign grace.
The parables within this book reveal His will for you,
Each one a precious building stone, for all His words are true.

Copyright 1995, Frederick Milton.
(Used With Permission)