As I sat in a jury room recently, it got me thinking about when I die. While I always knew it was inevitable, I never really stopped to imagine the day I stand before God to give an account for my life. I tried to picture it in my mind – would I dissolve in tears, fall on my face or be a quivering mass of jelly? Would all the bad things I’ve done flash before my eyes: the lies, the drugs, the judgment, the gossip . . .
Because this I know, We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Notice the word all, underline it in your Bible. ALL – that means no exceptions.
None. Nada. Zero.
All of us will stand before God when we die.
What happens there determines where we will spend eternity.
You see, it’s not about whether we do enough good things to outweigh the bad; or earning a place in heaven because we can’t. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord (Romans 3:23).
There’s that ALL again – underline that one too. Everybody has sinned. Erry-body.
Do ya hear me on this?
See, God is so holy, so righteous, so full of love there is no way we could even come close to being in His presence on our own. Yet God wants us to dwell with Him forever! He really does. The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
We have a choice about where we spend eternity. That choice is Jesus. Romans 10:9 says, “if we will confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved”.
When we speak out loud that Jesus is Lord, it is because we recognize sin in our heart. This is repentance; you are turning and walking a different way now, giving Him Lordship of your life. You’re making Him the boss because you want Him to be, because you know He is a better boss than you. It’s a heart change, a desire to do life differently, to live God’s way.
Once you truly give your life to Christ, your outlook changes.
For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)
Jesus saves us, not by our deeds but because He loves us. It is by grace He offered Himself as a sacrifice so we could be together in eternity.
The most famous verse of all, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, He gave his only son so whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
He died for us. He did it all.
Therefore, when I stand before God and judged for all I’ve done or failed to do, good or bad,
I want to shout like Isaiah:
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God!
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness” Isaiah 61:10
This blog shared on The Homestead Barn Hop #175