Preparing for Tomorrow

We do it all the time. If we have family and friends coming over, we make sure we have enough food, lodging, etc. to meet the needs. If we are going to purchase a costly item, we make sure that we have all our paperwork in order. If we have to do a presentation at work, we make sure we have all our ducks lined up in a row. How well do you think we prepare for eternity? The problem with that question is that it seems to indicate that we have something to add to make our eternal future more secure. The fallacy is that if we sit around and do nothing, we have already determined our future. So where does that put us? It is true we can not earn our salvation, but we can submit to the One that holds our eternity... Jesus Christ. If we simply acknowledge Jesus, but our life remains longing for the same things as the rest of the world, our future will likely be hot and unpleasant. If our heart hungers for God, as it should for every believer, it will have a desire to worship Him. Not just to worship on our own, but to gather with other believers that we may spur one another to good works. Confession is not a work we perform to gain points with God, but rather it is an admission of our inability to earn salvation and fall on our face before God confessing our failures that He might remove our sins. Prayer is not a ticket to heaven that is measured by the time we spend on our knees, but rather it is a communicating and worshiping the One who holds our eternity in His hands. Bible studies are of no value to us if we are not seeking to know God and what His desire is for His people. Jesus tells us that when He returns, He will separate the faithful and the unfaithful by how they live their lives...by how they treated others. Jesus says, “When I was hungry, you fed me...when I was sick, you visited me...when I was in prison, you visited me.” The faithful do not look at Jesus with pride in their hearts for all the good works they had done, but rather asked, “When did we do [that]?” It is not that we are judged by what we do, but rather that we do what God has put in our hearts to do without any benefit because it is the right thing to do. Father, We measure a man’s worth by what we see, but You judge a man by the spiritual condition of his heart. Fill us with an unconditional love that comes only from You. Help us! Amen