My father-in-law spent 30 years helping people in the public health field. When he went to heaven at the age of 76, he left a closet full of files and a wall full of awards.

When it came time for us to clean out his "work" closet, the family pictures and a few mementos were kept, and all the rest had to go. I got the job of disposing of it. I hauled it up past the barn into an open field, doused it with diesel fuel, and set it on fire--old project files, slide presentations, plaques of appreciation, correspondence, everything--and I watched it burn.

It was a sobering experience as I thought that someday when I stand before God, all my "work" will meet the same test. Only what survives the fire has eternal value.

Watching letters and proposals turn to ashes gave me a new understanding of 1 Corinthians 3:13. Paul said, "Each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is."

Today the work. Tomorrow the fire.

That afternoon in the pasture made me more careful, more thoughtful, about my fleeting opportunities to do work that won't burn.  — David C. McCasland