Where will you be when you get where you are going?
We are all on journey and we intuitively know the journey does not end at the grave. The Bible speaks to this truth when it reveals, He (God) has also set eternity in the human heart. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Written on every human heart is this sense that there is life beyond the grave. When the journey ends, when you finally arrive, where will you be? When it’s all said and done – what will you have to show for your life?
In Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul lists some impressive credentials on his spiritual resume; that might provide him with a sense that his journey will lead him to heaven based on who he is and what he has done.
If anyone thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. (Philippians 3:5-6)
Paul had all the right stuff; Jewish descent, a rich family history, highly educated, social status and a reputation as being a religious man. What more could you want?
If being religious could earn you a right standing before God, if following all the outward rules and rituals could earn you place in heaven, then Paul should have had a guaranteed front row seat, next to Moses and Elijah. His religious resume was as good as it gets, he was the cream of the crop, what more could you want?
There are a lot of people who subscribe to this kind of religion. Maybe their resume is not as impressive as Paul’s, but it’s good. They try to do and keep the rules, what more could want? Surely that’s enough! But Paul says…it’s not enough. He weights it out and concludes it’s not enough.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)
As Paul considers his life, as he weighs out what is really important and what is not important, he draws up a spiritual profit-loss statement and concludes only one thing matters: I want to know Christ (Philippians 3:10) That’s what the Christian faith is all about, trusting Jesus completely. You can make it a lot more complicated than that but the Bible says it all comes down to Christ; being found in Him.
Which brings me back to the question, where will you be when you get where you are going? When you finally come to the end of your journey, what will you have to show for the 50, 70 or 90 years you were on this earth?
Two thousand years ago Jesus asked the question this way: What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36)
We are all on a journey through this life to life eternal and sooner than we think, our days on earth will be over, then what? At the end of the journey, where will you be?
Do you know Jesus, or are you still hoping your religion will be enough to get you to heaven? Weigh it out; figure out what it is that matters and what doesn’t and then come to your own conclusion. The Bible says, if you don’t know Jesus, you are in danger of losing your eternal soul. When it is all said and done nothing matters but knowing Christ and being found in Him.
Would you like to go to heaven? Here are the two words that can take you there: Only Jesus
Time how short! Eternity how long! Life how precarious and vanishing! Death how certain! The pursuits and employments of this life who vain, unsatisfying, trifling, and vexatious! God’s favour and eternal life how unspeakably precious! (Thomas Scott)
We are all on journey and we intuitively know the journey does not end at the grave. The Bible speaks to this truth when it reveals, He (God) has also set eternity in the human heart. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Written on every human heart is this sense that there is life beyond the grave. When the journey ends, when you finally arrive, where will you be? When it’s all said and done – what will you have to show for your life?
In Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul lists some impressive credentials on his spiritual resume; that might provide him with a sense that his journey will lead him to heaven based on who he is and what he has done.
If anyone thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. (Philippians 3:5-6)
Paul had all the right stuff; Jewish descent, a rich family history, highly educated, social status and a reputation as being a religious man. What more could you want?
If being religious could earn you a right standing before God, if following all the outward rules and rituals could earn you place in heaven, then Paul should have had a guaranteed front row seat, next to Moses and Elijah. His religious resume was as good as it gets, he was the cream of the crop, what more could you want?
There are a lot of people who subscribe to this kind of religion. Maybe their resume is not as impressive as Paul’s, but it’s good. They try to do and keep the rules, what more could want? Surely that’s enough! But Paul says…it’s not enough. He weights it out and concludes it’s not enough.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)
As Paul considers his life, as he weighs out what is really important and what is not important, he draws up a spiritual profit-loss statement and concludes only one thing matters: I want to know Christ (Philippians 3:10) That’s what the Christian faith is all about, trusting Jesus completely. You can make it a lot more complicated than that but the Bible says it all comes down to Christ; being found in Him.
Which brings me back to the question, where will you be when you get where you are going? When you finally come to the end of your journey, what will you have to show for the 50, 70 or 90 years you were on this earth?
Two thousand years ago Jesus asked the question this way: What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36)
We are all on a journey through this life to life eternal and sooner than we think, our days on earth will be over, then what? At the end of the journey, where will you be?
Do you know Jesus, or are you still hoping your religion will be enough to get you to heaven? Weigh it out; figure out what it is that matters and what doesn’t and then come to your own conclusion. The Bible says, if you don’t know Jesus, you are in danger of losing your eternal soul. When it is all said and done nothing matters but knowing Christ and being found in Him.
Would you like to go to heaven? Here are the two words that can take you there: Only Jesus
Time how short! Eternity how long! Life how precarious and vanishing! Death how certain! The pursuits and employments of this life who vain, unsatisfying, trifling, and vexatious! God’s favour and eternal life how unspeakably precious! (Thomas Scott)
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