"4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."
Verses 4-9 are truth. And I am convicted by verses 10-15. Verse 15 is a comfort — as Christ followers we are saved, yes, that is not in question. Even if what I do fails to save others and have an eternal impact, I know that I, myself, and saved. That is comforting...but what is the work that we are doing? Verse 10 says we must be careful what we build on our foundation of Jesus Christ. And verse 13 says that our work will be revealed through fire. It’s now that I wonder how much of my work will endure into Heaven…through the test of spiritual fire. The answer is “not much to this point," and if the same is true for you, I hope we are both determined to change that. I am convinced that what we do every day will be measured by its eternal impact. What is the fruit of our work every day? Are we building lives and legacies of houses, entertainment, reputations or anything else that can be measured in this world alone? It will be burned away — it will not remain. The entirety of my life — reduced to nothing, except that which brought glory to God and saved others. It is a terrible thought that your entire life could be reduced to smoldering ash…so we must change what we’re working for, and it must be eternal, it must be of highest quality…we don't have to know immediately how, but it must be our new goal, and we must pursue it to completion.
The verses here are simple, yet profound. It makes me think, “today, what am I putting on the foundation of God? Will it burn away like wood, or will it remain, like a precious gem? Today, did I help to build the eternal house or just an illusion of one? What will I do tomorrow?”
What will you do today that will endure into Heaven?
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