Part Three: The Value of “Heat” in Our Lives: The Barn Fire

How often do you think about what will happen to you in Eternity?  Many of us believe in Jesus and have asked for His salvation.  Therefore we believe we will have everlasting life, and will dwell for eternity with the Lord.I believe there is more to understanding what happens to me when I get to heaven, than simply “I have the admission ticket and the pearly gates have been open to me.”The Scripture in 1 Cor. 3:9-18 describes the Day during which I will go through a fire that will test the quality of my works.  If my “works” survive that fire, I will receive heavenly rewards.(NLT. 1 Cor. 3:11-15)  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have — Jesus Christ.  Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials — gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay or straw.  But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done.  The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.  If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.  But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss.  The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”Years ago my family of dairy farmers experienced a major barn fire on a January day when the temperatures were below zero and the wind was howling.  Water sources and vacuum pumps were frozen so milking the cows was a challenge.  Because we were trying to thaw the barn’s pipes out in order to do the milking, we overworked the circuit  breaker board.  But it had been frozen and didn’t kick off as it should from an overload, so  a spark flew up into the filled hay loft.  Within several hours the gamble roof barn was burned to the ground.  Most of the cows and horses (but not all) were driven out of the burning building to safety.When I walked through the charred mess a day later, I noticed that the steel rods (i.e. stanchions holding the cows), which had been coated over years with dried on cow swill, hay, chaff, grain, saliva, were now burned “clean”.  When I wiped away the covering of soot, a shiny metal bar remained.  The fire had burned away the combustible stuff and left the fire-proof material.There is coming a day when you will walk through a fire after you have been admitted to heaven.  This fire will test the “works” you have done.  In Scripture “works” are also attitudes.  We can do a “good work”, but not do them in faith (Romans 14:23), or according to God’s will (Mat.7: 21).  Then they would be considered wood, hay and straw.However, when we move through life collecting the precious gems of the kingdom of God (e.g. fruit of the Spirit, agape love, obedience to Christ’s callings), and we build our house using those non-combustible materials, the gold, silver and jewels, then our works will survive this fire.  The choice is ours as to how we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.We have a chance to build with precious spiritual gems each day.  Because each opportunity to interact with another person, each difficulty that tries our patience, each temptation gives us a choice:  to use chaff and straw, or rubies and gold. We can choose to sit back, unmotivated, lackadaisical, content with our “ticket into heaven” and do nothing more for the kingdom.  Or we can choose behaviors and attitudes that are considered precious stones and gems in the Kingdom economy.  Which way will it be?Accepting the “heat” of suffering in this life gives you an opportunity to prepare for this Judgment fire.  The heat is the moment of choice. Build now on your foundation of Jesus, using spiritual riches, non-combustible materials that will carry you through this fire.  Prepare now to receive your heavenly rewards later. In Christ,