Built To Stand

Paul affirms in I Cor. 3:13, “. . . the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” He states, “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” To build well is to build for eternity.

George W. Boschke was the famous engineer who built the gigantic sea wall to protect Galveston, Texas, from the horrible floods which had brought disaster to the city. He built his sea wall with a sure confidence of a thoroughgoing engineer and a master workman. From Galveston he went to Oregon to build railroads in an undeveloped section of the state.

Boschke was in a camp forty miles away from the nearest railroad when an exhausted messenger rode in and handed a telegram to his assistant. The message said that the Galveston sea wall had been washed away by a second furious hurricane. The assistant was in consternation and dreaded to hand the telegram to his chief. Boschke read the telegram, smiled, handed it back and said, “This telegram is a black lie.

I built that wall to stand.” He turned away and went about his work. It turned out that the message was based on a false report. True, there had been a hurricane as severe as that which had flooded the city before, but Boschke’s sea wall had not been moved.

It stood firm. “I built that wall to stand,” said Boschke and went smiling about his work amid rumors of disaster. Every man built upon Christ and every institution built upon Christ and His truth will stand, come wind, come weather.