Heart Tracks - On That Day

"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' " Matthew 25:23....."The most shattering thought I've ever had is my personal accountability to God one day." Daniel Webster...."Is what you're living for worth Christ dying for?" Leonard Ravenhill

It's been my observation over the course of 30 plus years of ministry, that not many of us spend much time thinking on what eternity will be for us. It seems enough that we have "reservations" there, and that someday, not too soon of course, we're in no hurry to leave this realm, we will enter into it. Till that far away day, we go on with our lives, investing in a realm that is passing away, storing up treasure we have no means of keeping, and ending up with deep poverty of soul. Few of us see it as so, though we have to admit, we haven't spent much time thinking on it to begin with. Life here and now demands our attention. Eternal things, well, they can wait for eternity. Scripture says that He has placed eternity in our hearts, but its call is being muted by the pull of this world and our love for it. Webster's words above should be very sobering to us, and would be, if we ever spent much time considering them. His Word says that it is a "fearful thing to fall into the hands of God." But we in the western church tend to think of this as not pertaining to us at all. We kind of see it as having the name "Jesus" stamped upon our hands and thus gaining access into His eternal Kingdom. We can enjoy life now, and then, we can enjoy it even more.

I am not trying to put forth some kind of legalistic terror upon you. Those sealed in Christ are secure in Christ. But all of us, believer and non-believer alike, will face Him in judgement. The unbeliever will be judged according to how they responded to Christ, accepting or rejecting Him. The believer will be judged for how they lived for Him. This is where Ravenhill's words pierce. Is the life we live today worth His dying for us in order that we might live it? He gave up everything in order to offer and give us His life. Real life. Is the way we are living that life resulting in a "scandal" in heaven? We can say many things about this life He gives and how we value it, but it is our hearts and the actions that flow from them that give either the proof or the lie to those words. He need only look at our checkbooks, day planners, and the energy we devote to this world as compared to His for the real answer. When the motives, attitudes, goals, and desires of our hearts are truly measured, do we really live a life worth His dying for? We can spend a lifetime putting off answering such a question, but we can be sure, at the end of all things, we will answer it. It's a fearful one to consider. Shouldn't we come to terms with our answer now.....not then?

It really comes down to the question, "Have we spent our lives looking after our own comfort and well-being, or seeking to be a vessel of His life and glory before an unbelieving world?" Having Christ's words burned into our hearts, "Take no thought for yourself." I know that fully living out those words is a lifelong journey, but how far along in that journey are we? How deeply do we desire that on that day we hear from His throne, "Well done, good and faithful servant....enter into My joy." Or are our hearts so clogged with the rusting treasure of this dying world, that they're too dull to even consider the question to begin with?

Blessings,
Pastor O