  "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. " (1 Cor 3:12) I've seen this passage differently this morning than I've seen it in previous times. Normally I apply this to a persons actions or works that he performs in his life. However, putting this into context we see that the "building" that is being constructed is the Church (1 Cor 3:9). Paul is talking about the worth of the materials that we are using to build up the Church. (When I use 'Church' with a capital 'C' then I mean all Christians... the body of Christ... as opposed to just our local congregations. ) So what does it mean to use "gold, silver, and precious stones" as opposed to "wood, hay, or straw" to build the Church? Wood, hay, and straw are cheap, easy to find, and easy to use. It doesn't take too much effort to build a structure quickly.
Is that how we build the church? Does this describe a Sunday School teacher who prepares their lesson the night before? What about the person who counsels a friend by throwing out a number of Christian cliche's and then hangs up the phone without really listening to and praying with their friend? To build with gold, silver, and precious stones takes time and effort. Labor in prayer for and with your friend. Spend all week preparing and re-preparing the Sunday School lesson. Jesus says "Seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be open" That applies to salvation, but it also applies to our current walk.
Seek Jesus, desire to know Him, desire to know the Father's purpose for your life, desire to love the people that God loves. Put your blood, sweat, and tears into this effort. This has immediate application to myself. First, I find myself guilty of my two examples: last minute Sunday School lessons, and cheap counsel (although not always). So I myself need to work on that. Second, even these postings... I sit here, read a chapter, and in 20 minutes spout off an interpretation and application, then go to work. What effort went into that? Here is my disclaimer on this... :) My primary reason for beginning this blog was to force myself to find some application in my daily devos (devotions, quiet times, scripture readings, etc). Far too often I'd read a passage (often times losing my concentration and daydreaming (or even regular dreaming) multiple times) and when I'd get done, I'd close my Bible, walk out the door and not remember a single thing I had learned.
My thought process is that if I decide to post what I've learned, then I force myself to find some application in the passage and not only that, I have a record of all the things the Holy Spirit has taught me. So you, as a reader, be aware. These postings are not necessarily 100% theologically sound... but if you have some time, spend some effort thinking about these things post comments, ask questions or point out inaccuracies or inconsistancies, or even let me know how this encouraged you. Alright... time for work... have a great day! (and put some effort into it) ;) 
