A Wise Masterbuilder

UV 1107/10,000 The Wise Masterbuilder
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon
I Corinthians 3 v 10


God has given each of us grace to be a wise masterbuilder. A wise masterbuilder always digs deep and lays a solid foundation. We need to dig deep into the Word and wisdom of God and then lay the foundation of the knowledge of Christ. This is the rock foundation of civilisation that teaches us not to hate and kill, to rob and lie but to love and bless all including our enemies, rivals and foes. This is the rock that is unchanging and unshaking even in the most cataclysmic of world events.

Our purpose in life is edifying people while glorifying God. Edifying people means building up people to realize what is their purpose in life and to help them fulfil that purpose. Everyone will learn the facts of life sooner or later but not everyone will learn the truths of life. The truths of life are taught by Jesus and these constitute our solid foundation. Upon these truths, we need to build our lives with good thoughts, good words and good deeds. The superstructure of our lives is made up of these living bricks or stones. If we are mixing good and bad thoughts, good and bad words, good and bad deeds, it will be like building a house half of straw that can be burnt and half that cannot be burnt. Such an edifice cannot stand forever. We need to remember that we are building to last forever and not just for a long time. We need to heed every thought, emotion, word and deed. This is what is meant by working out our salvation with fear and trembling. If we do not , it is like starting a building and stopping with the foundation.

The pit is ugly when it is first dug to lay the foundation. But as the building gets completed, it looks beautiful and it can be used for noble and useful purposes. A wise masterbuilder builds on the solid bedrock of obedience to the words of truth spoken by Jesus. We should realize that every day we are building. We should keep doing what we can and we will end up doing what we cannot- the splendid, the magnificent, the awesome, amazing work of God in our lives. The choice of the words “ wise masterbuilder” implies that our lives should be a reflection of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, skills, practical “hands on” experience and determination. We need to have the focus and determination to complete the good work the Lord has started in our lives. To test if what we are building is in accordance with the master plan, we need to use the plumb line of the Word. We need to bring our faith to completion by adding to it excellence, the testimony of good character, the discipline of principles, the knowledge of the Word and the world. Just as the foundation is Jesus, the cornerstone is Jesus, the capstone of grace is also Jesus. The whole building is held together by this one name and living person. He is the architect of the universe but He is also the architect of the lives we are building, brick by brick, verse by verse, precept by precept, concept by concept and practice by practice. A building is built not for itself but for someone to reside in it. Our life’s building is being built for the Holy Spirit to inhabit and reside in.