BUILD YOUR HOUSE OUT OF THE RIGHT STUFF
From The HeartPublish date: 07/22/2001
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8 NIV
We honor God when we honor those we serve here on earth. Our motivation is very important to the Lord, because our attitude toward man reflects our true attitude toward God. You may say that you love God and you may claim to honor Him, but if you do not honor and obey His word then you do not honor Him. Work is good. God expects us to work. God can bless our work. He wants us to work well and to be sincere and respectful to our employers.
It is not acceptable to God that we try to con our boss by working only when he is watching us. Even when our boss turns his back—we should remember that God is watching us. We must realize that we have a responsibility to do the will of God by working and serving our boss wholeheartedly—as if we were serving the Lord, Himself. He says that we are serving Him by serving our boss. God will reward us for the good work we do from a sincere heart.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 NIV
Without a firm foundation, there is nothing to build upon. There is only one life foundation we can lay if we want to live a successful, productive and blessed life—and that is the foundation Jesus Christ. Until you have Jesus in your life—until you have acknowledged Him as your Lord and Savior—you have not yet begun to live!
Upon this firm foundation, we build our lives. This foundation is established by our faith and then we proceed to build our house on this foundation by our faith, our motives and our works. It is no good for us to do only those things that suit us and ignore those which don't. God's word is not optional. We cannot pick and choose what we will do and not do, obey and not obey. It is a package deal. We must submit to God's word in every area. We must commit to do His word without hesitation or argument.
Some people appear to do all the right things and yet their motivation is wrong. Some people are obedient in some areas, but disobedient in others. Some people are obedient, but not willing. All this is wood, hay and stubble. If we do the right thing, under every circumstance and for the right reason, we will be building with gold, jewels and precious stones.
If we are carnal Christians, we will be selfish and we will make choices that are not pleasing to God—wood, hay and stubble. The more we grow in God and learn to yield to the Lord in everything, the more we will do those things that please God—the gold, jewels and precious stones.
God does not judge our house—He just sets it on fire. If it burns—we lose it. If it passes through the fire—we get to keep it and take it into heaven with us. We are the ones who choose our building materials. We should choose wisely. We should commit to yield our heart, soul, body, mind, will, emotions, mouth and opinions completely to the Lord.