Heavenly Works

     Each of us will meet with Jesus. As the song says, “I Can Only Imagine!” It truly is beyond our imagination to be in the presence of the risen Lord, to walk with Him and talk with Him and serve Him. Our sins are forgiven, past, present and future. The works we did in His name will follow us into our heavenly home.

     The Bible promises, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 21:4)  There will be a moment or two as He wipes away our tears forever, a few moments where we will realize the missed opportunities. Our true motivations will be before us. The times we believed we were being selfless, but instead only brought attention to ourselves. God always looks at the heart.

     But there will be those times, the times we allowed the Spirit to work. The times in our lives that truly brought glory to our God. The moments when the Spirit asked us to do more, to sacrifice something, to give some time we didn’t have, to humble ourselves before God and truly serve him.  Those moments will be refined into bright jewels and glowing, golden crowns. The rest?  Burned as hay and stubble.

Their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss, but yet will be saved-even though only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15

     Some will arrive with the smell of soot drifting into heaven with them, others will gladly accept the burnished gold and the precious jewels to leave at our Savior’s feet. Heaven will be glorious either way and the works that survive will be the works we allowed the Spirit to do through us. Hallelujah!  Let’s build our lives on the things that will survive, the only things that truly matter.

Jesus,

Only with You can we do the works of heaven. Without You, we can do nothing. Open our eyes to Your power. Open our ears to listen to Your call and keep us humbly in Your service even when it seems impossible. We can only imagine what we can do through You.

Amen