We hear so much about the kindness, love, acceptance, and grace of God now days. We hear about how merciful and forgiving He is and that He is faithful to forgive our sins. All of this is the truth but I can’t help but wonder how many of us have lost sight of the fact that we will all face God and have to answer for the deeds that we have done on earth, good and bad. The bible says that we will all have to answer for the deeds that we have done and will receive the reward that we deserve (revelations 22:12). God is very patient and forgiving of us but He will not wait forever for us to get it together. If we pass away before we have gotten it together and purified our heart to walk with God to the best of our ability then we will miss out on many of the rewards that God wants to give us in our eternal life. What if we have to sit on the sidelines in heaven and watch others enjoy something that we longed for because we chose to do our own thing and not follow His guidance on earth. What if He says to us, “I never knew you,” or “I had created you to do great things but didn’t do them and why did you not do them,” or “my child, I wanted to give you a grand prize for running your race so well but since you didn’t I can only give you this small token.” How will we feel when we stand Before God and He ask us, “what did you do with your life,” and we know that we made many bad or wrong choices and decisions, doing what we wanted to do instead of what the Spirit directed us to do? I think that we will be overcome with shame, guilt, and regret for our actions. I think that we will wish that we would have done differently. And what if that is the state of being that we stay in for eternity? what if that is the “reward” for our actions because the bible says that we will receive a reward for our actions rather good or bad. What if we are saved from hell but we remain filled with guilt and regret forever? I think this is something that we need to really think about and read scripture on the topic.

Yes God is a loving and merciful God. Yes He is forgiving. Yes He is patient and kind. Yes He accepts you even though you are a sinner and mess up. Yes He looks past your actions, words, and thoughts, and looks at your heart. Yes he will be there for you if you call on Him. And yes He gives you a fresh start each morning. But He is also a God of justice and truth. He also sees our motives and our deep secrets. And we will have to give an account of our actions when we face Him on judgement day. We will have to take full responsibility for our choices and our decisions. There will be no excuse, no reason, and no one to blame for what we chose to do. And taking full responsibility for our actions is how we humble ourselves and our heart can change. But if that doesn’t happen until we get to heaven then we won’t have the opportunity to change and to do better. We will have lived a life that wasn’t as full and complete as it could have been, leaving us with nothing but regrets, wish I would haves, I should haves, and I could haves.

God does want the best for us. He wants us to be whole and happy. He wants us to be who He created us to be. But He is a God of Holiness and righteousness and love. And if we are going to be who He created us to be and have the blessed life that He sent Jesus to die for us to have we have to make choices and decisions that display the character of God that is in the core of our being. Being true to who we were created to be is how we are able to make good and right choices and decisions. It is how we are able to hear, “well done,” when we face God. It is how we are able to say that we did the best that we knew to do at the time when we give an account of our life. That is what God wants us to do. He wants us to do the best that we know to do at any given time because doing that means that we are following the Holy Spirits guidance. Doing our best doesn’t mean that we are going to get it right all of the time. It simply means that we are following our conscience (the Holy Spirit) and doing what we think and feel is the best thing to do at the time. It means that we are at peace with the choice and decision that we made. It means that we don’t have regret or shame for our actions. And it means that if and when we are convicted by the Holy Spirit for something that we did and felt was right at the time was actually not the best thing we could have done we will apologize if need be, make the necessary changes, forgive yourself, and move forward with no guilt.

It is important that we don’t lose focus of the fact that we will have to answer for our actions and will receive our reward rather good or bad. We can’t live a life of bad or wrong choices simply because we want to do things how we want to do them and expect that God will say, “well done my good and faithful servant” and give us a grand reward. We can’t follow our natural instincts instead of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us and think that just because we have the Spirit we won’t have consequences for the choices that we make. We have to think about eternity and how we want our forever life in heaven. We have to think, “will God be pleased with this,” when we are making our choices. He wants to give us blessings and grand rewards but it is up to us if that happens or not. He is going to love us no matter what but we do have to give an account of our actions when we face Him on judgement day. He will let us into heaven because Jesus already paid the price for our wrong doing and secured our spot but what kind of life will we have here on earth because of our choices and decisions? What are we going to say to God when we are facing Him and what will He have to say to us about the life that we chose to live?