Arriving at Your Destination

Arriving at Your Destination

1 John 2:28
"And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

   Have you ever arrived at a destination and been disappointed when you got there?  In this verse, John presents that kind of idea.  When we arrive at our eternal destination, how will we feel when we get there?
  When Jesus returns, some people will be afraid because they never really got to know Him.  Some will not be afraid, but instead will “be ashamed before Him at His coming."   They lived worldly, unfruitful lives, and now, seeing Jesus face to face, realize they have not lived for Him.  In one moment, the understanding will come to them that whatever else they accomplished in life; they did not live for Him as they should have.
   In 1 Corinthians 3:15 Paul brings up the idea of people who “barely” get saved.
If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
There are those who, when He appears, will feel disappointment rather than glory.  They will have worked but not done anything to further the Kingdom of God.  Instead of joy and happiness when seeing Christ’s face they will be filled with shame and fear.
   Then there are some I’ve heard say, "As long as I make it to Heaven I’m good!”  That’s easy to say now, but consider how small the difference between "barely saved" and "not saved" is?  Too many in the church have the attitude of, "How little can I do and still make it to heaven?" or "How far can I stray from the Shepherd and still be part of the flock?"  These are pretty dangerous questions to ask.  I once heard a (supposedly true) story about a warehouse supervisor who needed to hire a worker.  He interviewed 3 finalists and explained that he wanted to see how good a driver they were with the forklift.  He wanted them to see how close to the edge of the loading dock they could drive and not drive over the edge. Two tried and both got really close to the edge.  The third refused to try.  He got the job.  The supervisor explained to the other two he didn’t want drivers who could get close to the edge without falling off, he wanted drivers smart enough not to try.
   As I wait for Christ’s return, I don’t want to explore how far I can stray from the Shepherd nor do I want to find out how much I can do and still be forgiven for.  The best way for me to get ready for His return is to obey the directive given in 1 John 2:28.
And now, little children, abide in Him, that when[f] He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
   It won’t matter if you’ve memorized every prophecy passage in the Bible.  It won’t help to retire to a monastery, hiding away from the influence of the world.  What we must do is abide in Him.  According to the dictionary, the first definition of “abide” is: “to remain; continue; stay: Abide with me.”
   Do you have a “way up there in the sky” view of God?  That’s not how it is and is a dangerous view to adopt.  God is not, as a popular song once proclaimed, “watching us from a distance.”  Nor is life a joke as a cartoon Gary Larson did about a “kid” God playing with a galaxy.  God is close and He knows the thoughts and the intents of our hearts.  You can fake a lot of things in life, but He is not fooled by anything you do.  Now is the time to get serious about your final destination so when you get there you won’t be ashamed.

Stephen Cram                            August 28, 2011                     Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8