The Wisdom of Doing
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24)
I’ve been thinking lately about what it means to be wise.
We often hear that word thrown around pretty loosely. We call someone wise because they’re clever, or educated, or experienced. We admire the person who can analyze a problem from every angle, who knows all the theories and can cite all the experts.
But Jesus defines wisdom differently.
According to him, wisdom isn’t primarily about knowing, it’s about doing. The wise person isn’t the one who merely hears his words, but the one who hears and acts. The wise builder doesn’t just study architecture; he builds on solid rock.
Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “Everyone who understands my words is wise.” He doesn’t say, “Everyone who can explain my words to others is wise.” He says, “Everyone who does them.”
This is the heart of what I’m calling Practical Christianity.
Truth That Demands Practice
Here’s the foundation we have to get straight: Christianity is practical because Christianity is true.
This isn’t some “whatever works for you” approach to faith. We’re not talking about pragmatism that’s divorced from reality. We’re talking about truth – objective, revealed, God-breathed truth – that corresponds to the way things actually are.
When Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 17:6), he’s not offering one option among many. He’s declaring reality. And when he prays to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17), he’s telling us that our transformation, our sanctification, comes through aligning ourselves with that reality.
The Christian life works because it’s built on truth. When we live according to God’s Word, we’re living according to how we’re made. We’re swimming with the current of creation rather than against it. We’re building on bedrock rather than sand.
Richard Baxter understood this deeply. In his Christian Directory, he wrote that Christians must learn “how to use their knowledge and faith, how to improve all helps and means, and to perform all duties.” Knowledge matters. Truth matters. But knowledge that doesn’t lead to practice is incomplete, and ultimately, useless.
The Pattern of Wisdom
Look again at Jesus’s words in Matthew 7. He’s not giving us abstract theology. He’s painting a picture we can see: two builders, two foundations, one storm.
The storm comes for both men. That’s important. Following Jesus doesn’t exempt you from trials. The rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. The winds blow. The floods rise.
But here’s the difference: one house stands, and one house falls. And the difference isn’t in the storm, it’s in the foundation. It’s in whether the builder heard and did or merely heard and admired the words of Christ.
The Apostle James echoes this same truth when he writes, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). There’s a kind of self-deception that comes from knowing without doing. We think we’re fine because we’ve heard the truth, understood the truth, maybe even taught the truth to others. But if we’re not living it, embodying it in how we think, speak, act, and desire, we’re building on sand.
John Wesley spent his entire ministry fighting against this kind of dead orthodoxy. He watched nominal Christians across England, people who knew their catechism, attended church, and held right doctrines, live lives utterly unchanged by the Gospel. That’s why he insisted on “scriptural holiness,” not just scriptural knowledge, but holiness of heart and life.
Wesley wrote, “The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness.” He meant that authentic Christianity can’t remain theoretical. It has to work itself out in love, love for God and love for neighbor, expressed in concrete ways in every sphere of life.
Truth You Can Live
So what does this look like practically?
It means that when Scripture says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), we don’t just nod in agreement, we ask, “Who is my neighbor today, and how am I called to serve them?”
When Scripture says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6), we don’t just highlight the verse, we actually pray instead of worry.
When Scripture says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23), we don’t just admire the principle, we show up at our jobs Monday morning with renewed purpose, offering even mundane tasks as worship to Christ.
This is what Baxter meant by “Christ’s absolute dominion.” There’s no sphere of life – not work, not family, not leisure, not citizenship – that falls outside the lordship of Jesus. And if Christ is truly Lord over all, then his Word applies to all. Every command is meant to be obeyed. Every promise is meant to be trusted. Every truth is meant to be lived.
The Promise of Solid Ground
Here’s the beautiful thing about building on the rock: when the storms come (and they will), you stand.
Not because you’re stronger than the other person. Not because you’re smarter or more talented or luckier. But because you built on truth, and you put that truth into practice.
The Christian who actually forgives when wronged discovers that Jesus was right: forgiveness really does set you free.
The couple who actually prays together, serves together, and submits their marriage to Christ discovers that his design for covenant love really does produce joy and strength.
The man who actually works as unto the Lord, refusing to cut corners or compromise his integrity, discovers that God really does honor faithfulness.
The church that actually practices mutual accountability, confession, and discipleship discovers that Christ really does build his church through genuine community.
Christianity is practical because Christianity works. It works because it’s true. And it’s meant to be put into practice.
Your Next Step
So let me ask you directly: Where is there a gap between what you know and what you do?
What truth have you heard, maybe even taught to others, that you’re not actually living?
Maybe it’s forgiveness. You know you’re supposed to forgive, but there’s someone you’re still holding a grudge against.
Maybe it’s generosity. You know God calls you to give, but you’re clinging tightly to what you have.
Maybe it’s purity. You know the standard, but you’re compromising in secret.
Maybe it’s rest. You know God commands Sabbath, but you can’t stop working.
Whatever it is, here’s your invitation: take one step today from hearing to doing. Not ten steps. Not a complete transformation overnight. Just one obedient action that aligns your life with the truth you already know.
Build on the rock, one stone at a time.
Because wisdom isn’t ultimately measured by what we know. It’s measured by what we do with what we know.
Reflect
- What truth from God’s Word do I know well but struggle to put into practice?
- If I truly believed that Christianity works because it’s true, how would my life change this week?
- What would it look like for me to build one area of my life more firmly on the rock of Christ’s words?
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the way, the truth, and the life. Your Word is truth, and by that truth we are sanctified. Forgive us for the times we’ve been content merely to hear, when you’ve called us to do. Give us wisdom, not just knowledge, but the courage and grace to put your words into practice. Help us build our lives on the solid rock of your teaching, so that when the storms come, we will stand. Make us doers of the Word, not hearers only. For your glory and our good. Amen.
And remember…
Christianity is practical because Christianity is true.
Christianity is practical because Christianity works.
Christianity is practical because Christianity was meant to be put into practice.
Soli Deo Gloria.
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