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May 20, 2023 06:00am

The Fire Test

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Every year I have this “ritual” I do. When the time to file taxes comes, I go through my files and records, collecting those that are seven years old or older, I build a fire and burn them one page at a time. It’s interesting to go through the records as I am burning them; it’s like sifting through the pages of a journal of my life.

Tonight, as I was performing my “yearly ritual”, the process made me ponder the judgment that is spoken of in I Corinthians 3:10-15. The judgment talked about in this passage is the judgment believers will go through with God as He inspects our lives and shows us what things in our life were God-honoring and which ones were not. In verse 13 of this passage it says, “each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done.” As I was going through all my records, I began to wonder whether each of the interactions with people, and the use of my money and time represented by those documents would stand the test of God’s fiery standard. With each sheet of paper there were memories to assess.

But the real question was: By what standard shall I measure each of these?

There are several places we could look in Scripture to find this standard of measure but for the purposes of this article, I’d like to look at a few Proverbs for guidance. This is not a comprehensive list, but I hope to take us to the heart of God’s standard for our daily living.

Let’s begin with Proverbs 16:2 which says, “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.” From this Proverb, we learn that trusting our own motivation can be deceptive. Even when we think our motives are good and pure, the fact that we have a sin nature can distort our assessment of what is “good” or “right”. Since God knows all things, is not limited by time, and has a just character, He has a different perspective of holiness than we often have.

Isaiah 55:7-8 says it this way, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways’, says the Lord.”

From these verses, the first standard I find is that my activities are to be guided by God’s Word and His Holy Spirit rather than my own thoughts about what is good. When we follow these, we do not have to question whether they will stand the fire test at the judgment.

The next standard by which we can use to measure daily life is from Proverbs 16:4. It says, “The Lord has made everything for Himself, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” This principle is repeated throughout Scripture in a variety of ways, but it boils down to this: all people and things and circumstances will be used for God’s glory. Many of us get caught up in the last portion of this verse. We know God is NOT the author of evil, and we also know His power and sovereignty make it possible for Him to use all things and all people for His purpose and glory. That being said, the first half of this verse lets us know that when we seek to honor and glorify God, we are on the same page with God but when we seek our own glory, it is equivalent to self-sabotage. Proverbs 25:27 compares it to eating too much honey. It tastes good to begin with but in excess can make us sick and miserable. So, our second standard should be that God’s glory is the primary goal for daily living.

Prov. 16:5 contains our next standard for living. It says, ‘Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured he will not go unpunished.’ This verse uses very strong language for something that is a common struggle for most people I know. Pride! To me personally, this is the most frustrating sin of all. We can work very hard to rid ourselves of a prideful attitude and humble ourselves before God, but the moment we get comfortable with having “conquered it”, BOOM, it’s back with that one statement of victory for which we’ve taken credit. So our next standard of measure are the things done in humility and not for glorifying ourselves.

If you are experiencing the despair I was feeling in evaluating all of the activities represented by the papers being turned to ash in the fire tonight, don’t worry. We have not finished the last two verses of our original passage in I Corinthians. In verses 14-15 of chapter 3, Paul reminds us “if what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved…” I am so very thankful for this passage! It is an assurance that our salvation from hell and God’s wrath is not dependent on our works but on the blood of Jesus Christ. It’s also a reminder that we don’t get a free pass on what we say and do as people who have put their faith in Christ, because we must all endure the fire test.