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The deadliest flood on record occurred in China in 1931. Up to 4 million people died and 80 million were left homeless. In 1900, a hurricane left 8,000 dead in Galveston, Texas, and in 2005, Hurricane Katrina left 2,000 people dead along the Gulf Coast. In one year, flood damage in the United States totaled $8 billion. Rain, wind, and flood can cause enormous damage to life and property. So when our Lord uses storm damage to alert us to a coming disaster, we need to pay attention. After setting forth His Kingdom principles, Jesus closed His sermon with these words: “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” The coming flood in Jesus’ sermon is a way of telling us that a day of accountability will come for each and every person. Only those whose lives are built on Him, the solid rock, will withstand that storm.
