Heart Tracks - The Account

"So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God." Romans 14:12

Francis Chan has a wonderful teaching on this Scripture. In it, he takes a very long length of rope. He paints the first three inches of this rope red, while the remainder stays its natural white. He uses those first three inches as being the length of our natural lives on earth. All the rest of the rope stands for what will be the state of our eternal lives after death. The point he makes is that most of us obsess about what goes on in those first three inches, giving little if any thought to what "life after death" will be for any of us. My observations after nearly 40 years of ministry is that he's very much on target.

The first thing that needs to be stated is that every aspect of our lives after death must start with what we do with Jesus Christ. Our choice here is clear. We will either receive Him as both Lord and Savior, or we will reject Him as both. There is no middle ground. Lord and Savior. He is not one or the other, but both, and He must be both in our lives. Literally. To receive Him as such opens up our eternity as one spent with Him, in the presence of the Father. To reject Him is to spend an eternity apart from Him, without His presence, in darkness and separation. The Bible tells us the first is heaven, and the latter hell. One or the other will be our eternity.

Beyond that stark choice remains deeper choices for we who profess Him as our Lord and Savior. Chan speaks to us and says that how we believers live out those three red inches of the rope will determine what our eternity will be like. I don't think the majority of believers give much thought to this. We made it into heaven, and so that's good. What our reality will be there doesn't seem to be a priority in our thinking. This is a terrible omission, and one we will deeply regret. Especially so when it comes our time to stand before the Father to give an account as to how we lived our lives for Him in that "red period" here on earth. For too many, I think we'll hear that we spent the majority of our times worrying about ourselves, our needs, our success, our desires, and the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. Yes, we loved Him, but we loved ourselves even more. Jesus talked of whether the fruit of our lives would amount to gold and silver, or wood and stubble. The first would carry over into eternity, the latter would simply be burnt up. Sobering news for pastors, worship leaders, teachers, and Christian workers who spent lifetimes in pursuing the building of their own kingdoms rather than His. And we each of us will give an account for how we went about our work....and the motives we had in the doing. Not just sobering news, but news that we should tremble over in our anticipation.

Charles Spurgeon said that the one thing that made his heart and mind tremble was that he knew that one day he would give an account of his life and ministry to His God. The accolades of the church and men would mean nothing in that moment. Only hearing "Well done, good and faithful servant," would matter. Is it so for you and me? I don't know how many years are left to me, but I know they are far fewer than what I've lived. I know that in the end, it will be me, standing before my Father, giving an account for how I lived and ministered for Him. I know that far too much of the past will be burnt up as wood and stubble because so much mixture was in the service. A mixture of too much me, and too little Him. I desire to live out these days solely for Him, and like Spurgeon, I tremble at the thought, while longing to hear His "well done". I know how little of my eternal life will have been lived in that red piece of rope, yet how much the quality of it will mean. May we all come to know that as well. May our eternity be spent with Him, and not apart from Him. May that choice be made for Him now, for it will be too late then. But with the choice, may we also choose that our lives be all about Him, and not about us. So that when the time of accounting comes, we hear His well done, and see our lives as far more of His silver and gold, and very little of our wood and stubble.

Blessings
Pastor O