Here at TotalThriver, we provide tools and resources to help you thrive in many aspects of your life. We’ve discussed how it’s very important to take care of your body through a challenging fitness regimen, and how this practice will bring positive effects to other aspects of your life as well. We’ve also explored various topics on managing your finances, in order to be a good steward of your resources. We’ve even provided ThriveWealthy, a free tool for managing your spending and savings. But all of these resources are merely bricks that you can build your life out of. The piece that is much more important than all these is what you build on.
The Wise and the Foolish
Jesus once told a parable about a wise man and a foolish man. The wise man built his house upon a rock, while the foolish man built his house upon the sand (Matthew 7:24 and following). When the rains came, the house of the foolish man was destroyed, but the wise man’s house stood firm.
Jesus explained how the man who builds his life upon the words of Christ is like that wise man. While worldly people around us build their lives on fine possessions, power and influence, or friends and family, Jesus calls us to build our lives on Him.
Paul uses a similar metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3 to teach us what will become of our life’s work when we face the Judgment:
11For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Enduring the Final Test
We may do some good things in our life, and use the “costly stones” of good money management, care of our bodies, and love and devotion to family, yet still be the foolish man whose life work is destroyed when the rains come. Christ himself is the only sure and true foundation, and any other will be shown one day for what it is — sinking sand.
As you continue along the path to a thriving life, I encourage you to take a moment to pause and reflect on what is your ultimate foundation. Are you seeking tools to live a thriving life in order to revel in your own glory? Do you want to acquire wealth merely for your own comfort and convenience, or do you seek to use money as a tool for glorifying God and bringing others to a saving knowledge of Him?
Laying the Groundwork
If you’ve never come to a point in your life where you’ve realized your need for Jesus, I pray that you would take a moment now to reach out to God in prayer. The Bible tells us that we are born sinners, in rebellion against our Maker. Each of us defies Him when we desire our own way above His, when we violate His commands and spurn His love. But in Romans 5:8, we learn that, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” He died that we might be born again into a new life with Him, and rose again to demonstrate His divinity and power over death. If we will turn from our sin, turn to Christ as Savior, and trust Him as the only Lord of our life, He promises that He will blot out our sin, wash us clean, and enter our heart. Will you relinquish control of your life to Him today? Jesus is waiting to show you His love, and lead you in a thriving life with Him for all eternity.