Work on the House of the Lord!

Work on the House of the Lord!

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men . . . .” 2 Cor. 5:10-11.

Paul was willing to work as much as possible for people’s salvation before he himself had to appear before Christ’s judgment seat. He knew that Christ in His love for mankind had sacrificed everything, even His own precious blood. Therefore Paul knew that he could not meet Christ with boldness and joy if he had been indifferent to the others’ salvation.

How do we imagine it will be when we meet Christ and have to give account for the thousands of days of grace He has given us to live and work among our fellow men?

Most people only work on their “own house.” Even then they have difficulty finding sufficient time to do that. Of course they go to meetings once in a while, but they are not among those who work on the house of the Lord. It is no wonder that such peoples’ lives are dry and dark, because the Lord will call for a drought and close heaven over them. Hag. 1.

We are to build the house of the Lord with joy in everything we say and do. A mother with her flock of children does not have much opportunity to get out of the house. Nevertheless, she needs to understand her high and holy calling and her responsibility so that she doesn’t just use her life’s best working years to keep the house in order according to some earthly standard, but that she sees it as her task in life to build the house of the Lord in her home. Unrest, anxiety, and foolish talk about earning a lot of money must not characterize the home. Not at all! It must be a place of peace, with time for prayer and conversation, where God’s kingdom comes first. God’s Word is a blessing. It is living and interesting, and our children and acquaintances should notice it. However, if we present them with a dry doctrine filled with laws and regulations, it will only arouse bitterness and opposition.

On that Day, we will not be rewarded for having had such a nice house, garden, or furniture, or because we managed to get our children to be something great in this world. Not at all! Then the important question will be how much of the Word of Life the parents have managed to get to grow in their children. The Word of God that has become life in us is the only thing we have that is great and “nice.” We have no other riches. Everything else is only rubbish fit to be burned.

One curse in the last days will be that people will labor to feed the fire, and nations will weary themselves in vain. Hab. 2:13. During the war we witnessed how large ships and buildings that had taken thousands of hours to build were destroyed in a moment.

However, it is a great blessing of the Lord to receive grace to labor with what will last forever. Every laborious work in the Lord will lead to abundance; therefore it is not in vain.

If a man has purchased a building lot and intends to build a house on it, he is usually busy with it at all times. If you ask for him, you will be told that he is working at his building site. All this will shortly be taken over by other people, or it will burn up. However, it is a great thing to have taken possession of a building site, an area on Mount Zion in the heavenly Jerusalem, which will be the center of the glory of the Lord for all eternity! Let us labor diligently on this spiritual house. If anyone wants to get us interested in anything else, let us reject it with the reply that we don’t have time for it. The house is to be ready within a short time.

We will not hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” without having lived a life in the fear of God. Even though we sacrifice our entire life and are faithful in all our work, we have only been faithful in little. Whatever we sacrifice on this earth is in reality only a little compared to what we will receive in heaven when we enter into the joy of our Lord. Then Jesus will make us ruler over many things. Matt. 25:21.

If it is true that we love Christ, we will also love each person and will work for his or her salvation. Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” He Himself wants to make us fishers of men, and He is the only One who can do it. However, then we need to follow Him—not just for a few steps, but constantly forward in the obedience of faith. Then we will also be continually better equipped to lead others into these same blessed steps. However, because there are so few people who follow Christ, there are also only a few who lead people further in His steps and who labor in order to present them perfect in Christ Jesus. Col. 1:28.

Paul could say to Timothy, “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance.” Paul could point to a strong personal life in Christ in his work with each individual—something that people almost glory in not possessing in these days, because they would rather point to Christ.

The time remaining is short, but it appears as if there are only a few people who realize how close we are to Christ’s return. May our lives be active and full of blessing as never before, and may we live each day expecting Christ’s return.