Some architects and builders have contributed magnificent beauty to the world. Others have created wretched ugliness. The noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright commented, "The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines. So architects should go as far as possible from home to build their first buildings."

The apostle Paul wrote the manual on church building programs. To the church in Corinth he wrote, "You are God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9). He was not referring to the place but to the people themselves. Their church began when Paul laid the foundation--the truth about Christ. Then he urged the Corinthians to consider carefully how they would build on that foundation.

What we as believers build on the foundation will be tested by fire--not the fire of punishment for sin, which is hell, but the fire of judgment, which is disclosure (1 Cor. 3:15). Everyone without Christ will be punished, but every Christian will be judged for his works. The fire of judgment will reveal what was God-honoring and what was not. Good doctrine and righteous living are the solid stuff that will last. Everything else will go up in flames.

Are you building for eternity?  — Haddon W. Robinson