…the fire will test what kind of work each has done. If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. If someoneʼs work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)
Flames leaped ten meters carrying grass, trees, and bush animals into gray billows. The wildfire raced toward the mission complex in Zimbabwe and every able-bodied person beat at the flames with a leafy branch. I’d never battled a fire with a branch, but I couldn’t stand by and watch, so I carried my bough into a burning field.
“Stop, brother.” An African grabbed my arm.
The hungry blaze jumped the same trail I almost used and burst into a roar of orange flames. My ignorance was nearly my undoing.
Will my ignorance of character be my undoing when I get to paradise? I know I’ll be saved by the grace of Jesus, but will my personality lie in charred ruins because it wasn’t remade beforehand? After walking with the Lord for years, I still harbor jealousy, fear, and apathy. I don’t want to show up at the marriage feast of the Lamb as a gray haired spiritual baby with no eternal gifts to present.
The fire for testing character is already ignited. It burns around me every day. The flames of poor health, dysfunctional relationships, and idolatrous addictions lick at my soul. I don’t control the temperature or duration of my testing. I can’t even choose the areas of my life that burn. I am, however, in charge of my response to the blaze.
If I lash out and blame others, the fire will destroy the core of who I am. Alternatively, I can hide myself in Jesus for the duration—hunker down into my trust of him. Only then will I emerge with a character of gold fit for the city coming from above.
Prayer: Create in me, O God, a fireproof heart.