Why are you so polite with me, always saying Yes, sir, and Thats right, sir, but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and dont work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss. (Luke 6:46-49 MSG)

In Ecclesiastes 5:1-5 the Teacher first instructs the people to listen. The Hebrew word for listen carries with it the responsibility to hear and obey. In 1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel says to Saul, To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. What does it profit us to go to Sunday service and attend bible study if we only hear the word but do not obey? It is like he who hears Gods words but does not put them into practice and built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the storm (trials & trouble) comes the house (the person) is ruined (faith shattered).