By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

I recently had some family and friends travel over to Europe and visit some of the cathedrals built there. They are beautiful and majestic to behold, though I only know this from afar. I think of all of the different types of skillsets needed to build a cathedral, and it is a crazy amount. I actually have a strategy game that is quite fun to play that is a contest to add the most value in building a cathedral. It is called Pillars of the Earth. In this game the architect has already designed the building. There are master builders who prepare the work (like general contractors), skilled laborers who perform the work on the raw materials to make it fit into the design of the cathedral (like subcontractors), and laborers who harvest or mine the lumber, sand, gravel, and metal. And in reality there are more people involved in this process than just those listed above. The point is they all came together to make something truly monumental on this earth. Revelations tells us of a coming “new heaven and new earth” (Revelation 3:12 & 21:1). The architect is God and the foundation has already been laid by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This building will have unbelievable value and it will go beyond the test of time into eternity and life with God. HOW WILL WE BUILD the section assigned to us? What type of skills and effort will we build into God’s work while we are on earth? We can give it all we’ve got and build with “gold, silver, and costly stones” –something beautiful. Or we can be lazy in our faith and build something with weak spiritual effort that will be destroyed by fire, out of “wood, hay, or straw”.

My friends, each of us are a temple of God, that is much more beautiful to him than a cathedral, for we are living temples! And together we are like stones in the grand SPIRITUAL CATHEDRAL of GALACTIC SIGNIFICANCE! It is called the church of Christ. For such an EPIC BUILD, let’s dig in and improve our spiritual skills by seeking first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness. Let us GLORY in the trust God has placed in us and the abilities he has given us. Our life coach, the Holy Spirit, is standing by and instructing us; and the saints of old are cheering us on.

Lord, thank you for the wonderful “living cathedral” you are building with the universal church and that I get to be a part of the buildout. I am all in for you. Teach me to become a better worker in your epic living temple for eternity!