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登山宝训宣告的地点在以色列北部的加利利海附近。在该地区建造房屋的人可能会受骗在沙地上盖房子，因为沙地在一年中干燥的几个月里是坚硬稳固的。

然而，在雨季，会有风暴和山洪暴发，建在沙地上的房子地基很容易被毁坏和冲走。

作为对比，一个明智的人会在沙子下面挖10英尺，找到更深层的坚实的玄武岩。这提供了一个更稳固的基础。你可以想像，在那些没有任何电动工具或挖掘机的年代里，这是何等大的工作量。但事实证明，每当风暴来临时，这些艰苦的工作被证明都是值得的。

耶稣希望我们有一个安全的地基作为我们构建生活的基础，这意味着要做一些艰苦的开拓工作，潜心实践祂的教导。在我们的生活中，仅仅听信耶稣的教导是不够的。耶稣呼召我们成为祂的跟随者；祂敦促我们不仅要听道，还要“行道”。顺服祂的旨意会帮助我们避免我们自己人为制造的不必要的风暴。但是，即使我们在生活中面临困难的时候，我们也可以相信，并坚定盼望，靠着神对我们的爱，我们的需要都会得到供应。

The Sermon on the Mount takes place near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. People who were building homes in that area would have been tempted to build on the sand, which was firm and stable during the dry months of the year.

However, during the rainy season, there would be storms and flash flooding, and houses that were built on sand could easily get ruined and washed away.

By contrast, a wise builder would dig about ten feet below the sand to find the solid basalt rock underneath. That provided a much firmer foundation. You can imagine how much work that would be in those days, without any power tools or excavators. But the hard work proved worthwhile whenever storms came.

Jesus wants us to have a secure foundation to base our lives on—and that means doing some hard work to put his teachings into practice. It’s not enough just to listen to Jesus’ teaching as we go through life. Jesus calls us to be followers; he urges us to be not just hearers but “doers” of the Word. Obeying his will helps us to avoid unnecessary storms of our own making. But even when we face tough times in life, we can trust that we will have what we need in the sure hope of God’s love for us.