April 24th, 2026
Scripture – “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.”
Psalms 127:1-2 NIV
Observation – If you aren’t trusting God with your life and living for him everything you are doing is in vain. You might enjoy times of peace, prosperity and rest but ultimately it is all in vain because you are going to die. If you die without a relationship with Jesus you will spend eternity separated from God in hell. If you are a follower of Christ but invested the majority of your time building your life on a foundation that will be destroyed this is your fate, you will be saved but your rewards in heaven will be limited, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their 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 person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
Application – We all have 168 hours in a week and God has given us the incredible responsibility to choose how we will use that time. If you are a follower of Jesus you can choose to build your kingdom or his kingdom. I know what you are saying to yourself because I say the same things. But, life is expensive, I have to work a lot because …., God wants us to enjoy the world he has created so with work, sleeping, spending time with my kids and wife and trying to exercise I don’t have time to…. If we focus on adding things to our schedule we have missed our greatest opportunity to build our lives with God and on Jesus as our firm foundation. It is not in doing more it is doing what we are currently doing for the glory of God. As Paul says, “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” Include God in all of your decisions, all of your conversation, keep him in mind when you are enjoying a game or playing with your kids. This is building your life on Jesus Christ by being in a relationship with him, not just churning out good work. The end of the verse says that we glorify God in our rest by trusting that he will take care of us instead of working all the time, fearing that if we don’t work all the time we’ll go broke.
Pray – Lord, you are the firm foundation of our lives. Let us build on you, not on our own skills, wisdom or effort. Grant us peace today as we trust in you. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 