Firm Foundation

1Corinthians 3:10-17
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

I used to own property on an island…a region that had homes whose origins spanned from 1850’s to the 21st century. The foundations of the oldest homes were set deep into the bedrock of the island. Large limestone blocks lined the basements and crawl spaces, and the foundations were often layers of carefully placed stones from the island. Despite the numerous times there were fires which “leveled” these old homes, the foundations could be used repeatedly. The foundations were built to outlast the life of the structure!

As I age, I notice the inevitable changes in the way my body, my mind and my energy permit me to be involved in ministry. The days of sleeping on the floor pulling an overnighter with the youth group are long gone. I used to run the CROP Walk course twice….and now I walk the short course most of the time. Yes…the potential of this “temple” has diminished in some ways.

However, the foundation of faith which grounds my decisions and my choices has endured. It is a firm, solid anchor in the joy and love of Christ alive in my life. That love finds ways of expression regardless of the limitations of flesh, muscle, nerves, and brain. The love of Christ and the faith that has guided my actions will, I trust, endure in the ripple effects that radiate long after my flesh and bones return to dust.