My father was a home builder. He was not your typical large contractor who builds a home in 2 months. It often took my dad as long as 2 years to build a home—because he was a slow, but careful custom builder. His homes were built to last. He was always skeptical of new building material or methods. He was old school—he knew that a home that was built to last rested on a firm foundation. It took him forever to get a foundation completed. He insisted on French drains inside and outside of the footer. All footers had to be 36 inches deep and the walls were either 8 or 12 inch thick block with concrete poured inside the block every few feet. The outside of the blocks were plastered with 2 inches of mortar followed by a thick coat of tar. His foundations never leaked, cracked or swayed! They were built to last because he was a careful builder.

So when God tells the leaders at Corinth to be careful how they build the church and that no one can lay a better foundation than Jesus Christ, I think of my father. I want to be a careful builder of God's church. It scares me that I might build with poor material or use construction methods that cut corners and are quick, but may not last. I certainly want to be sure that Jesus Christ is the foundation and that the material built on top of Him will be quality material in the hands of skilled builders. I pray that God would teach me and the other leaders to be careful builders—and give us the grace and knowledge to become skilled master builders—building a church that will last.