Building for Eternity

Trusting the Builder’s hands to complete the work He started.

Devotional Credit: Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Photo Credit: Unsplash

Oswald Chambers takes us deep into the passage from Luke 14 where Jesus speaks of building a tower—and counting the cost. At first glance, it may appear Jesus is challenging us to consider what discipleship might cost us. But Oswald wisely turns the focus to what it cost Christ. The full redemptive plan—His thirty hidden years, the three years of opposition and praise, the sweat of Gethsemane, and the agony of the Cross in its totality—was the cost He already counted and paid in full.

Yet this costly grace is not cheap. To walk in it, one must yield to Christ in such a way that no competing love remains—not even the deepest familial ties. This isn’t about cold-hearted detachment, but about being so overtaken by Christ’s love that every other allegiance finds its rightful place beneath Him.

And when it comes to building, the danger isn’t laziness—it’s misplaced zeal. We may busy ourselves with grand enterprises, striving to serve God on our terms. But God never asked us to work for Him. He calls us to surrender, to be remade, so He can work through us. Only what He builds through yielded vessels will stand in eternity.

Journal Entry — Voice of the Holy Spirit

My beloved, I did not call you to tally your worthiness or calculate how much you can offer. I counted the cost, and I paid it with My own blood. You are Mine because I chose you. I did not begin something in you that I will fail to finish. I am the Author and the Finisher.

There is nothing I will build with your hands that I did not first intend in My heart. What I desire is not your effort, but your surrender—not your blueprints, but your availability. Let Me place you where I choose. Let Me do through you what brings Me glory.

To follow Me is to lay down every lesser love. Not to discard them, but to allow them to be rightly ordered under My Lordship. The cost of discipleship is not merely sacrifice—it is being remade. I form My servants into living stones, fitted together in the house I am building.

Do not fear My inspection. I do not search for perfection, but for surrender. Anything built for self, no matter how religious it appears, will not remain. But anything birthed from Me, in you, will endure.

Let Me be the Builder. You are the clay. I have chosen you for Myself. Rest in the surety that I never leave My work unfinished.

Scripture references: Luke 14:26–33, Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 2:4–5, 1 Corinthians 3:11–15

Real-Life Analogy

It’s like assembling a complicated piece of furniture with parts spread out on the floor. You could toss the instruction manual aside and begin based on instinct and guesswork—only to realize halfway through that something vital was installed backwards, or worse, missing altogether. But when you trust the instructions and allow the design to guide each step, the result is sturdy, sound, and just as intended.

Prayer of Confidence

Jesus, You are the Master Builder, and I trust what You’ve already finished on my behalf. I rest in the assurance that You are building something eternal in me—not by my striving, but through Your Spirit. I rejoice that You’ve counted the cost and declared me worth it. I release every personal blueprint and invite You to continue shaping me into what brings You glory. I’m not afraid of inspection—because You, the Inspector, are also my Redeemer.