Shown for What It Is

In Portugal more than 60 people were killed in their cars as they fled a wildfire. Certainly there were believers among those who perished, but the blackened skeletons of burned-out cars stranded on a bridge show that there was no escaping the flames. One cannot look at the devastation without recalling Paul’s words, “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his 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 man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Cor 3:12-15 NIV).