It’s been a very busy month or two, and I decided that I needed to disconnect from “life” this morning and spend some extended time with the Lord in the Pink Room. A friend of mine gave me a beautiful mug with a beach scene on it. I’m sipping homemade hot chocolate, dreaming of warmer days, the sound of the ocean and my toes in the sand, but for now, I’ll settle for watching the little birds feeding at our feeders and the warmth of the sun beating through the windows in my favorite room.
My heart is bouncing all over this place this morning. It could be hormonal, but I don’t think so. I’ve just finished a study of 1 Corinthians. My heart feels a bit heavy when I think about how closely the current status of the world looks to that of Corinth in Paul’s day. Much of his letter to the Corinthian people was to warn them about their immoral behavior. He was writing to believers, and pointing out some things in their lives that were not in line with what the example the Paul had been teaching them. (Christ, our perfect example) They were proud of their intellect, their eloquent speech, their own wisdom and ideas. There were divisions in their church, quarreling, personality conflicts and extreme sexual immorality, including tolerating detestable sins. Paul was disturbed by the fact that they were relying on human wisdom, rather than the wisdom of God. He was saddened by their behavior.
Like I said earlier, I see a lot of similarities between them and us. There is so much sin around us today. I saw a news report this morning about a new documentary coming out soon which addresses the idea that the soul of America is being destroyed. We are pulling further and further away from our God, living by our own rules, and acting as if we do not need Him.
What really grieves me though is the sin that I see in my own life. I am filled with pride. I often say and do things that are not honoring to God or to His Word. I make choices and decisions without ever seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance. I do not love others as I should and I sometimes forget to extend to others the same grace that God has so mercifully extended to me. I allow people’s opinions and words about me to bother me, instead of living to please God. I am a sinner. But, the good news is that I am a saved sinner! I have hope and you can too!
In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul talks about building for eternity. We can build our foundation on Christ and on things that are lasting like silver and gold, or we can accept the wisdom of the world, and build it on things like hay or straw, neither of which is very lasting. Hay will burn up in a flame in a matter of minutes.
Paul reminds us that no matter what we build our foundation on, at some point our life work will be tested. I don’t know about you, but my prayer is that when my foundation is tested, when my life work goes through the fire of God’s Presence, I want it to hold up. I want it to withstand the hottest fire possible. I want my life fruit to be lasting and to have eternal value. I’ve been asking God to burn up anything in me that is not pleasing to Him, to burn away anything that does not have eternal value. The only way that this is possible is if all that I do is done through Christ and by the power of His Spirit.
So, I find myself more and more, asking what my own foundation is really built on. I am confident of my salvation, but I also want to be confident that I am trusting in God’s wisdom and not the wisdom of the world. When my foundation and life work is put through that refining fire of God’s Presence, I strongly hope and pray that what is left will be the things of eternity, the lasting fruit, the silver and gold, not the straw and hay. God bless you and thank you for reading. I hope that you have been encouraged by these words.
I Corinthians – The Holy Bible, NIV 1984
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