I don’t know what I was thinking. How did I possibly think I could read a chapter a day of Corinthians (to make it through in the 30 days) and share one thought a week with you?! Apparently, I had forgotten just how deep Paul gets in his Corinthian letters. (I told you it had been awhile.)
The truth is, I am jotting down notes and underlining verses like crazy. I could share several thoughts with you, but for time’s sake, I will limit myself to one today:
“You are God’s house…Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely” (1 Corinthians 3:9b-15, The Message)
I love the way The Message paints this word picture. The original context was in reference to building the church. However, I think it’s appropriate to relate it to our personal lives and our homes.
We are each craftsmen (and women). We are building our lives and our families. As Christians, we have laid the foundation of Jesus Christ, but what materials are we choosing for the rest of the structure?
Am I building my life on eternal values, or is my time, money, and energy spent on things that hold only temporary value? It’s true we live in a tangible and temporary world that requires investment of time and effort in earning and spending money. But is that what I put my priority on, where I place my value? Are those the things with which I am building my life?
And what about my family? Am I making every effort to instill in my children eternal values and teaching them to chase after God? Or am I teaching them to strive for achievements the world says are important and chase things that will one day be gone?
It’s impossible, in my opinion, to read that passage and not be reminded that, we will each answer to God for what we’ve done with all that He entrusted to us…our time, our money, our talents, our children…everything. I don’t think that’s meant to scare us. I think it’s meant to challenge us, possibly even encourage us?
If God is willing to follow up on the “investment” He’s made in us, He must have an amazing plan for that investment. He must be planning for (hoping for?) a great return…a tremendous masterpiece. Perhaps, then, it’s time to take inventory and consider the “materials” I am using to build my life and my family. Will those things pass the inspection?
Now it’s your turn: What are you reading/learning in this Thirty for 30 Challenge? Please leave a comment below and let me know, or link-up your blog post at the bottom. I can’t wait to read all your insights!
Wow. What a timely reminder for us all. I am constantly reminding myself of that with homeschooling: character training is more important than, say, math facts. It’s easy to get caught up in the secondary stuff and let the main things slide a bit.
Thanks for this post!