1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
An elderly carpenter was looking towards retirement. His boss, who had come to depend on him for quality work, asked for one last favor—a final house to build before he hung up his hammer. The carpenter said yes, but his heart wasn’t really in it. He cut corners, used second-rate materials, and just didn’t put his usual effort into the construction.
When the house was finished, the boss came by and handed the carpenter the keys, saying, “This is your house, my gift to you for years of hard work.” The carpenter was floored. If he’d known he was building his own home, he would’ve definitely made sure everything was top-notch. Now, he was stuck with a home that wasn’t built to last.
We should think of ourselves as carpenters, and our lives here on earth, as our house. Each day we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall, we must build with care! It is the only life we will ever build. And what we do here will count for eternity!
Remember, our lives today are shaped by how we thought and what we chose before. And what our lives will look like tomorrow? That depends on how we think and choose today. So, let’s be wise and build something that’ll last, not just for now, but for eternity!
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Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
More Devotions
For the past two weeks we have examined lessons from the OT account of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt in hope of avoiding the errors and attitudes of the children of Israel. This week we will draw connections between the Exodus and the prophecies in the book of Revelation.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve begun a series of devotions based on the Exodus wanderings of the Children of Israel, and their tragic mistakes which we can learn from and avoid. One powerful influence common to their failures was fear.
The Lord spoke to Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt to be desperately cornered with the Red sea before them and Pharaoh’s chariots advancing upon them from behind. Overwhelmed with terror they cry out to Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Having just miraculously escaped from the miserable life of slavery, and only beginning their new life of freedom, the children of Israel were faced with the most dire threat to their existence.
While John warned against deception in the last days, and we should be mindful and discerning the times in which we live, keenly aware of the rise of the spirit of Antichrist — he also gave us encouragement: “…you have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”