Lenten Devotional - Saturday, Mar. 20

Day 28 - Saturday

March 20

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.  1 Corinthians 3:10-15

The apostle Paul is using the metaphor of a building to describe our life in Jesus Christ. Anyone who has given their life to Jesus now has him as the foundation of their life. Now it is up to each of us, working with Jesus, to build on that foundation. There are a variety of building materials of differing qualities, from precious metals and stones to hay and straw, representing things that will last and things that will pass away. The fire that will test the building of our life is not the fire of hell, but rather it is the fire of heaven, of God's perfection and holiness. What parts of the life we have built can stand in the presence of God, and what will be consumed and pass away? Apparently, some people will be saved, barely, while others will enter into God's presence with much that they have "built" in this lifetime.

To Do

Consider the different aspects of your life - your heart, mind, body, time, possessions. In what ways are you using these, in cooperation with Jesus, to build something that will last for eternity?