Able

 Having laid the foundation of a new home for his family, a father proceeded to begin building the walls one brick at a time. Repeatedly slathering mortar, then laying bricks, the man was lost in the repetitive nature of the task. Everything around him blurred, became indistinct, and all there was, was the sound of the dowel scraping against the bucket of mortar and the squishy sound the brick made when pressed down into it. There’s no other way to go about it, the man thought to himself. One brick at a time, ensuring it’s flat against its predecessor until it’s done. Some things just take time, and there’s no way around it. Impatience will only serve to get it wrong. Then you have to tear it down and start anew.

The man continued the steady pace of his labors until, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his young son come to the wall and lay a small stone down onto one of the bricks. The man smiled and asked his son what he was doing, and smiling back at him, his son said, “I’m helping build our house.”

Months later, as they sat around their kitchen table for their first meal in their newly finished home, the man of the house proceeded to say grace, thanking God for His goodness, blessing, their meal, and at long last for his son, who had helped him build the house. The father opened one eye to check on the boy’s reaction; sure enough, he was beaming ear to ear.

Fathers remember when sons lend a hand, and sons bask in the gratitude of their fathers. It’s not so much how much they do, as long as they do it joyfully, within their ability, and with pure intentions. Every parent knows when their child is doing something out of a desire to be helpful and when they are doing something in the hope of getting something in return.

They know when something is done out of sincerity or with the vested interest of wanting to leverage their perceived kindness and goodness at a later time. Would I prefer my daughters do everything they do out of a sincere desire to help? Yes, I would. Is it the case? Hardly. They’re children, and they know how to work an angle as well as any adult I’ve ever met.

If we as parents know the intent of our children’s actions, how much more does God our heavenly Father know the intent of His children’s actions? We do the work because it is what we have been tasked with. The reward is a bonus, the icing on the cake, the cherry on the milkshake.

We don’t do good wondering what our reward for doing it will be; we do good because it is one of the byproducts of having a renewed mind. It has become our nature. We are no longer self-obsessed, concerned only for the flesh, for the here and now, but are compelled to preach the good news of the gospel, reach out to comfort the hurting, and feed the hungry, knowing that everything we have belongs to Him in the first place. Whether it’s your intellect, your ability to convey information, your material situation, or whatever gifting you’ve been given, use it for His glory, and you will have made the greatest of investments.

Certain truths are so oft repeated that they become cliché. That we can’t take anything with us when we die is one of those truths that generations have repeated, not because they couldn’t think of anything better, but because they couldn’t think of anything truer.

I suppose you can take the route of the hedonist, thinking that he who dies with the most toys wins in the end, but what have they really won? They’re still dead, and they squandered the one life they had, not doing anything meaningful or of eternal worth. Nice car and all, but it’s still just metal, plastic, and rubber in the end.

Although what the reward He brings with Him is not detailed within the pages of Scripture, we do have some clues as to what it may contain.

Daniel 12:3, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”

What does that mean? I don’t know, but it sounds kind of cool. Between being dull and muted and shining like the stars forever, the latter sounds more appealing than the former. Although I don’t subscribe to the notion of pet dinosaurs in heaven, if we were to extrapolate what Daniel wrote and take it to its rightful conclusion, some in heaven will shine brighter than others. You’ll know who worked and who didn’t based on their brightness.

That’s when all pretense will be laid asunder. If you’re dull in heaven, you can’t boast about leading thousands to Christ anymore, can you? It will be interesting to see those who never boasted of their reach or how many they turned to righteousness shine like the brightness of the firmament because rather than spending their days feeding their egos and bragging about themselves, they worked. There is nothing hidden that will not be known. There is nothing secret that will not come to light, whether for your glory or your shame. Even if it’s not in this life, all things will be known.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.