August 23rd

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. 1 Corinthians 3:11-13

Now I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!

We all remember that line, right? As the story goes, the first little pig built his house out of straw, and it fell. The second one built his house out of sticks, and it fell, too. The third one, however, built his house out of bricks, and when the wolf came to huff and puff, he could not blow that house down.

This is an almost comical story, but it is eerily similar to something that all of us will one day face: The Judgment Seat.

It is important to be clear that there are two judgments we know about from scripture. One is for unbelievers and one is for believers. The unbelievers will one day stand before the Great White Throne, and no one wants that experience. Today, however, we are talking about the judgment for believers-the Bema (BAY-mah) Seat of God.

The Bema judgment is where God will hand out rewards for all believers according to what they built upon their foundation. The foundation, of course, is Jesus Christ. We must have faith in Him or we'll end up at the Great White Throne judgment. We can build upon our foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, and really, these six things can be divided into two categories-Incorruptible and Corruptible.

The question is, is what you have built upon the foundation of Jesus in your life going to last, or is it temporal? What are you doing with your salvation, with what Jesus did for you on the cross? Only building with the things that will last will be rewarded on the Day, for God will test it all with fire. Wood, hay, and straw will be consumed. Those who built with corruptible materials will be left with nothing, escaping the fire with only their salvation.

Our salvation comes by grace, but our rewards come through works that are rooted in our faith. Our faith is our foundation, but no building is complete with just a foundation. We must build upon it with works that produce eternal fruit, bringing us lasting reward in Heaven.

So how about your life? When your life is tested by fire on that Day, will you have a building left over, or will you only have a foundation? What you choose today determines how you will spend eternity.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for being a good and righteous Judge! And thank You for taking the judgment for my sins! Please teach me to build on Your foundation in my life with things that will last.

Amen