"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." We do a lot of things in life and we do a lot of things with our life. We build marriages; we build families; we build careers; we build friendships; we build homes. But all this life-building counts for nothing--we labor in vain and stand to lose our souls--unless we are building for eternity. Specifically, this means that unless your efforts are conducted in obedience to God and directed at pleasing Him, they really do not count for anything. This observation by the Psalmist is just the Old Testament way of saying what Jesus meant when He told His disciples to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him: "
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36). If God is not in whatever you do--all that you do--then it is not worth doing!
