Ephesians 6:7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man (ESV)
This verse brings me to the contrast of Lord and man. In this case there is a stark contrast, I am reminded back to what God said in 1 Samuel: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” When we are doing a work for man we can expect that we will be judged on the final appearance of that work. But there is always more then the eye sees. Man looks at the job, and says yeah all looks well, good job. But the Lord looks on the inside and says my son, didn’t you mean to replace that. This is the way I see it.
When you remodel a house, bringing it to the original frame, you might find that the framework is rotten. Instead of replacing the rotted frame, you decide to take the shortcut. Knowing that the finished product will look the same regardless, and that this is the cheaper route. You see man might be ok with this, because he does not know what lays on the insides of the new walls. Or look at it this way. Maybe you are putting a new roof on your house. Again you remove the old shingles to find that the existing plywood is rotted out. Instead of replacing it, you take the shortcut, putting the new shingles on over the bad plywood. To the eye all is well. Job well done right? Only to find that one month later your new roof is already leaking. Or to find the sheet rock cracking cause the wood is warping beneath.
Now man might have accepted a work like this, until he found out what laid beneath. This is where man and God are similar. Neither one would want an inside that is rotten and unstable. You can live your life taking the shortcut. Doing a work halfway, just good enough to get the paycheck. Or you can live your life for the Lord. Tearing out the rotten insides, and building a new foundation. One that will stand strong. One that when the rains come, will not leak. One that when the Lord tests, it will stand strong. We should build as we are building upon the Lords foundation. As we see in 1 Corinthians 3: “Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” All our work is being built upon the foundation of Christ, what we choose to build with is in our hands. The bible says to be careful what we choose to build upon that foundation, for: “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.”
We can build on that foundation with things that look good to man or things that please the Lord. The things that are of the world, will burn. The things that are of God will survive, and will receive a reward. So are you taking the shortcut? Is your spiritual life built around things that look good to man. Like going to church, going to bible study, attending every conference and motivational seminar that sweeps through your town. If this is the case, these things will burn. One day they will be no more. But what will last, is your character. A life that is consecrated before the Lord, a heart that is filled with joy and love, not with selfish ambition.
It might be time to do so demolition. To go back to the lumber yard and get the necessary items to do the job right. To confess your sins, to reveal the deep, dark things that are hidden within your heart, separating you from the presence of God. To put down the self help book and pick up your bible. From their we stand upon a firm foundation, Jesus Christ. That regardless the mistakes we have made while building upon it can always be torn back down to an everlasting source. A foundation that will never fail, that will never change. That’s is faithful even when we are faithless. All that is necessary is brokenness. This time we rebuild, taking no shortcuts. Removing every rotten thing and replacing it with the fruits of a new creation. For “anyone who is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Application:
Today I will seek God for anything in my life that needs to be torn down. I will ask him to show me the truth that besets my current state.
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