My wife, Peggy, gave me a wonderful present two months ago. It had been on my mind for a while, so when she asked what I wanted for Christmas, I was ready. “I’d like to go through the house together, room by room, and throw away the stuff we no longer want or will never use again,” I said. We are not packrats by any means, and our house is kept tidy. But when a family lives in the same space for 25 years and goes through several life stages in the process, stuff accumulates. In part, yesterday’s desire has become today’s clutter, so we have begun to toss it aside. And. It. Feels. So. Good.
To believers in Corinth, Paul exposed a different kind of clutter— so called “good works” originating from our own will and pursued in our own power. “No one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” he wrote, “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.”1 Through metaphor and contrast, the nurturing apostle exposed a dichotomy of deeds: the throw-away kind (wood, hay, and straw) originating from our own flesh; and the firmly established type (gold, silver, and precious stones) grounded in obedience to the Spirit’s call. This is not to suggest our eternal salvation is based on the origin of our works, for Jesus himself is the unassailable foundation of all who trust in Him. Paul continues: “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives [i.e., gold, silver, and precious stones], he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up [i.e., wood, hay, and straw], he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”2 What authority! And such grace!
We are “[God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” for a certain kind of works— the “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”3 Long before we were even conceived, God prepared meaningful tasks for us to do. Jesus said to His disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command,”4 and “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”5 These are the works of the “gold, silver, and precious stones” variety, those of deepest meaning and lasting impact. So, watch for them and listen; ready yourself in prayer and the Word to be used for eternal purposes. For when we walk in obedience and faith . . . It. Feels. So. Good.
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”—Isaiah 6:8 ESV
Yes, Lord, today send me. Amen.
1 1 Corinthians 3:11-13 ESV
2 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 ESV
3 Ephesians 2:10 ESV
4 John 15:14 NIV
5 John 15:16 NIV
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Paul Nordman—Author 