Do you ever think about what happens after you die? Where you will spend eternity - heaven or hell? How secure are you in your beliefs? God has recently awakened in me the awareness that we will all face the judgment of God when we die. On that day, we will be judged for the good and evil that we have done. Do you think you are a good person? How would you stand if you were to be judged by His Law?
The simplest expression of the Law is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. God gave us more detailed instructions that help us to better understand His Law in the Ten Commandments. God has also written His Law in our hearts so that we are without excuse. It’s called our conscience. We cannot plead ignorance. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen anything? Have your ever used God’s name in vain - lightly or even as a curse word? Have you ever looked at someone with lust? Jesus equates this with adultery. Have you ever had hatred toward someone? Jesus equates this with murder. These are just five of the Ten Commandments, there are five more to go!
So, if you were to view your life through the lens of the Ten Commandments, would you be guilty or innocent? What verdict would a good and righteous Judge render in your case? Are you trusting in God’s goodness to overlook your sins? It is because of God’s goodness that He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. Are you relying on your good works to compensate for your lawlessness? Can you imagine an earthly judge overlooking a bank robber’s theft simply because he gave all the money he had stolen to the poor? Only a corrupt judge would do that. The Bible states that the punishment for breaking God’s Law is hell.
However, in His infinite wisdom and mercy God has provided a way for your sins to be pardoned. Jesus, who never broke God’s Law, took the punishment for your sins when he suffered and died on the cross. He rose from the grave on the third day and conquered death. The Bible instructs you on how you can receive this pardon: 1) Repent from your sins - this means to feel pain and sorrow for your sins and turn from them; 2) Believe in Jesus and His saving work on the cross. The belief that I’m talking about is like putting on a parachute before jumping out of a plane at 14,000 ft. There is a difference between a belief that a parachute can save your life if you were to jump and putting on that parachute and trusting that it will save you when you do jump. Salvation is in Jesus alone. Nothing that you have done will help you on the day of judgment.
The intent of this post is not to lay a guilt trip on you nor to make you think that I have it all together. My intent is to appeal to your conscience and allow the Holy Spirit to convince you of your hopeless state before God and your need for a Savior. If He has been successful then repent and trust in Jesus - and read your Bible daily. If you are already aware of your condition and have Jesus as your Savior then I hope that I have encouraged you in the faith and spurred you on to share it with someone you know.
I will end with this analogy. If I saw my neighbor’s house on fire and I knew that he was home, I would do whatever it took to make him aware of his situation and to convince him to get out. In the same way, God is helping me realize that I need to share my faith with my “neighbor,” or else I could be leaving him in that “burning house”. I am sending you this letter because I care about you.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please leave a comment.
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