God’s Word is filled to the brim and oozing over with His truth. If we lived a thousand lifetimes, we still would not have gleaned even a tiny fraction of all that is contained within God’s Word. This should not diminish at all our commitment to read and study as much of the Bible as we possibly can. Our Heavenly Father commands us in 2Timothy 2:15(ESV), “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” In this verse, God is telling us the way to be approved in His presence. It’s to be a worker of the Word, to do our best to understand His truth so that we can apply it to our lives. He wants us to confidently and plainly speak it to others as we tell them about His unconditional love and incomparable goodness.

The Word is full of easily digestible truths, and we cannot live a successful Christian life without knowing them. The Apostle Paul gives us the basis for practically applying God’s Word to our lives. He said in 1Corinthians 3:10(NKJV), “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.” Through God’s grace, Paul was a wise master builder, and because of that same grace, so are we. Knowing God’s Word empowers us to build strong lives so that we are unmovable in faith, well able to support others, and can withstand any storm in life.

1Corinthians 3:10 suggests that there is a choice we all must make. We can be a wise master builder or an unwise one. Jesus Christ said in John 8:32(NLT), “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” An unwise, unqualified builder is an individual that is trapped in the past and refuses to break free of it by knowing the truth. This individual continues to use materials and tools of the same wrong choices, poor judgement, and bad behavior. They keep doing the same things they’ve always done, and therefore, keep getting the same results that they are always getting. Because their blueprint is faulty, the outcome of anything built by an unwise, unqualified builder is always the same, a weak foundation that isn’t strong enough to support a productive, abundant, and peaceful life for themselves or others.

In 1Corinthians 3:11(NKJV), God makes it plain to us through Paul, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” A wise master builder understands that in order for a life to stand strong and not be toppled over or destroyed from storms and burdens, that life must be built on a solid foundation. So, wise master builders lay the foundation of their lives on the one that Christ has already laid. His is a strong foundation, and because we are in Christ, we can build our lives in a way that pleases God and is awesomely fulfilling to us as well.

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has given us the blueprint, and it is the example that our Lord and Savior left for us. He demonstrated how we should walk in God’s love. Jesus Christ is the Word of God in the flesh. He declared in John 6:51 that he is the living bread that came down from heaven. God’s Word feeds and sustains us, and only what we do for Him will last. So, we can’t use our own building materials and tools and expect a masterpiece. Our Heavenly Father has placed His tools, equipment, and materials in our hands, and they are His Word, the example of Christ, and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

There are so many of us that are sad and heartbroken over disappointments of the past. God didn’t cause our troubles, but He will allow them to teach us about His love, power, and grace. In many cases, our troubles were the calling card to change, but we didn’t see ourselves as a benefactor of lessons about God’s love. Most of us have our eyes and ears closed to the reality that life will continually hold up a mirror for us. This mirror is the people we love, the situations of life, and the relationships that shine a reflection of our weaknesses and shortcomings. They will sometimes reveal that we’re not following the blueprint Christ left us.

Jesus taught in Matthew 7:24-27(NLT), “24 Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” Let’s not waste our time like this. When life is revealing that our way isn’t working, it’s time to leave it behind and realize we need to get back to building on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. Building this kind of life will keep us rooted in faith and continually blessed according to God’s Will.  ■

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Leave It Behind” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God. Christian devotions, Christian Encouragement, Growing in Christ, God’s Love, Learning about