In its “Across America” segment, Fox News recently reported a happy turn of events in Massachusetts. There a family was thrilled by a surprising discovery in the smoldering ashes of their home. They’d assumed that their cats and two litters of kittens had perished in the blaze, but to their amazement the animals survived, and later emerged from the ashes one by one.
Paul wrote about surviving a fire in his first letter to the Corinthians. All believers, he wrote, are building on the foundation that has been laid – Jesus Christ. We’re constructing by our deeds, our works. But we have a choice of materials: gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, straw. And one Day what we have constructed will be shown for what it is. It will be tested by fire.
That firelight will reveal what we’ve constructed. And the blaze will test the quality of that construction. If what we’ve built survives, we’ll receive our reward. If it is reduced to ashes, we will “suffer loss… [and] be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Cor. 3:15 NIV).
It seems from our sermon series, How to be Rich, that what withstands a fire here is combustible in heaven, and vice versa. On earth, gold and other precious metals are refined and purified in the fire, but wood, hay and straw – things ordinary and insignificant – are quickly turned to ashes. On that Day, however, wealth and material possessions will prove highly flammable, to the dismay of many who trusted in them. And a surprising discovery will be made. Unsung deeds of kindness in Jesus’ name, unheralded efforts to point people to Christ, and uncompromising commitments to God’s glory will emerge, one by one, like trophies from the fire. And won’t the world be surprised!
It’s a Day that’s coming, for sure. Are we working here for what is incombustible there?
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