God looks for quality. He is not concerned so much with whether we do the work as with what we use to do it. Many argue, 'If my work is well done, surely that is enough!' But God asks not merely whether we have served Him, given ourselves to His work, and built on the foundation, important though these things are. His question goes deeper. What, He inquires, have we used to do these things? He looks, not only at the things done, but also at the materials used. Among those who preach the Gospel. He is aware of a difference of quality, and readily distinguishes the solid from the superficial worker. Among those who see spiritual truth He recognizes a like difference in their seeing. Among those who pray He discerns what lies behind each one's 'Amen'. This is what Paul means when he warns us: 'If any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones wood, hay, stubble; each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire' (verses 12,13).

It is weight that counts. Wood, hay, stubble are cheap, light, temporary; gold, silver, precious stones are costly, weighty, eternal. Here is the key to value. The heavy metals, the gold of the divine character and glory, and the silver of His redemptive work: these are the materials He prizes. Not merely What we preach, but what we are, weighs with God; not doctrine, but the character of Christ wrought out in us by God's orderings, by God's testing, by the Spirit's patient workings. The problem lies in our failure to understand that, in God's work, man in himself is of no use. Wood, hay, stubble, these suggest what is essentially of man and of the flesh. They imply what is common, ordinary, easily and cheaply acquired-and of course perishable. Grass to day may clothe the earth with beauty, but where is it tomorrow?

Such values are costly. Those unwilling to pay the price will never come by them. Grace is free, but this isn't. Only a high price buys costly stones. Do not wonder, then at God's concern for the materials of His house. Imitation jewelry may have a certain beauty, but what woman that has once possessed the real thing would give another thought? The apostle Paul leaves us in no doubt of his own valuation. Ten coolie-loads of stubble can never approach the price of one single gemstone. All flesh, all mere feelings, all that is essentially of man, is grass and must vanish away. What is of Christ, the gold, the silver, the costly stones, these alone are eternal, incorruptible, and imperishable.