Bible reading: I Corinthians 3:11-15
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
The above portion of the scripture clearly indicates that we are buildings of God under construction, which summarizes our whole lives in a nut shell. To begin with, we have been given the same foundation, which is our Lord Jesus Christ, and apart from Him, there is nothing. This foundation is the basic gift given to all of us by God who has predestined us to be His chosen ones. Now, believe it or not, we are building on this foundation daily no matter what our spiritual conditions are at present. Some are faithful; some are worldly; some are outwardly while a few others are deep and genuine in their relationships with God. Therefore, no matter what our descriptions as believers in the Lord are, we are building our lives daily. While the faithful and spiritual ones are building with Gold, silver and precious stones, the worldly and outward Christians are building with wood, hay and straw. This will continue until the DAY of the Lord will dawn upon the world suddenly. This Day will be dreadful, as it will be revealed by the testing fire which will put to test our buildings, which we had built throughout our lives. The works that endure this testing will receive rewards and the ones with works of wood, hay and straw will be destroyed by the testing fire and they will suffer loss. Don't consider this loss as a small one. In fact, when the Holy word of God mentions it as a loss, then it will be hurtful indeed. Imagine when we lose something precious, how bad we feel about it and as time passes by, say a few months or years later, we may find the pain had eased out. However, the loss that is mentioned in the verse is a devastating one and we are spared narrowly by this fire. We may think about the people who had survived severe burns in fire accidents and how sorrowful their tales are.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, dread the Day of the Lord which will bring with it a testing fire. However, I am going to give you some good news. You have an opportunity here, to alter your lives, to build it properly now, since there is a little time left. Make sure that we get up every day and be mindful of our foundation, Jesus Christ, and the manner in which we need to built upon. Hallelujah.
