January 17, 2023 A SURE FOUNDATION IS LAID
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and then fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.”
There is hardly anything worse than discovering that the building that was built is faulty-after the building is complete. In life, whether we are conscience of it or not, we are building; our routines, the things we spend time doing, what we have as priorities, how we relate to others, are all a part of the building process that each of us are about. (Our life is the building.) The truth that we must not miss is that the foundation has already been laid-and that is Christ Jesus. As we see above, we have many options of what materials we can use in what we are building-gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw. The sobering reality is that one day our building, our work, will be tested by fire and it will become evident what materials we used in our building. Should our building survive the fire, then we will receive a reward from God! Jesus is the foundation and it is a foundation of forgiveness of sin, restoration to our Father, a new identity (new creations), being made a part of the body of Christ, and given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The eternal truths of the scriptures are the sure foundation. Jesus came and demonstrated and taught the gospel of the kingdom-as He did, He was laying the foundation. Foundations are to be built upon-that’s where we come in. We are to be building with gold, silver, and precious stones-and we find those materials in His word. We can build with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, patience, prayer, hope, encouragement, edification, bearing burdens, giving, serving-and the list goes on. What we build with these materials will last-it will stand the test of fire. We must resist living according to the wisdom and the ways of this world; instead we are to live according to the ways of God, and we learn of His ways as we read His word. It is futile and totally wasteful and unfulfilling to build with anything other than the materials that God has given to us to build with. Today, let us be about building from a kingdom prospective, knowing that what we are building will survive the fire and that we will be rewarded as a faithful builder.
Mathew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasuries in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed