July 12th

Can You Believe This?

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 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. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 1 Corinthians 3:11-14

Do you like puzzles? A lot of people do, and a lot of people don't, but there is one puzzle that all of us are stuck with-the puzzle of life.

Life is a puzzle because it's made up of lots of different pieces-our identity, family, hob-

bies, jobs, education, friends, church, etc.-and we're all trying to figure out how these pieces are supposed to go together and what they really mean to us.

In our verses for today, Paul gives us a huge key to figure out how to put the pieces of our life together. He tells us that the starting place of our life-the beginning, the foundation, the origin and point of it all-is Jesus Christ. Everything we do will be judged by how well it builds on this beginning.

It does us well to ask the question of how we build on the foundation of Jesus in our lives, and the answer is that we build with good works. Now, I must be very, very clear that no one can have the foundation of Jesus in their lives except by the grace of God. This is the salvation we receive by grace through faith. But I must be equally clear that we build on our faith, proving it with good works that honor God in our lives.

We cannot just say, Well, I believe in Jesus, and then live our lives as though He means nothing to us. If Jesus is in our lives, then He transforms our lives and we choose to honor Him in the decisions we make and the actions we take.

What's more, everything we do is recorded, but it is recorded so that we can be rewarded. Every day, every act, every thought, every deed, every opportunity, every accomplishment is recorded so that God can reward us in Heaven one day. But if we don't build well, we have salvation, but we have no reward.

Choose well to live for Jesus so that when you stand before Him one day, your works will not be burned up in the testing fire. For if they endure, then reward awaits you; if they do not endure, the no reward awaits you.

The choice is yours. Choose well.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

It's scary to me that everything I do in life might burn up one day when You test it. Please help me to choose to live for You every day so that I will receive a great reward from You on that Day.

Amen