What can I offer the Lord
for all he has done for me?
Psalm 116:12
"Good deeds", there's a thing! So many people think that the good things which they have done in their life will get them into God's "good" books.
Does God have such books?
Scripture tells us that there are indeed books in Heaven, and just judgement will be carried out according to what is recorded in those books:
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged according to what they had done as written in the books [that is, everything done while on earth].
Revelation 20:12
So, what are we going to do to put us in right standing with God? How many "brownie" points do we need to score?
Right now, think of the best thing you've ever done - stop and ponder - what is the most selfless, kind, or heroic act [or acts] that you have carried out? Ok, hold that in your mind - that's your good bit [or bits].
What does the Bible say about it, will that do? Will that recommend you to God at the final Judgement Seat of the universe?
We have all become like the unclean; all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag. All of us wither like a leaf; our sins, like the wind, carry us away.
Isaiah 64:6
In modern terms, all our "good deeds" are like used sanitary towels or tampons! Now no one would wrap up one of those and give it as a gift, and expect to be rewarded for so doing!
In the same way, we cannot hope that our best bits will recommend us to God when He examines our lives in His Celestial Courtroom.
It's an awesome thought - but a Biblical one - that all we do, say and think - is being written down in Heaven - ready to be examined at the end of the age.
We worry enough about "Big Brother" peaking into our social media and email records, but there's no way to shut God out. He is all seeing and all knowing.
The Psalm we started with goes on to say:
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and praise the Lord’s name for saving me.
If our good deeds, the best part of us, is polluted, then it's clear we need to be saved.
Jesus came and offered Himself on the cross as our sin offering, He alone can save us.
Trusting in Him will mean that our name is written down in the Book of Life - eternal life.
The refusal to trust Him has eternal, catastrophic implications:
The Judgment of the Dead
Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Satan will try to tell you that it isn't so, that it's just "mumbo-jumbo" myth. He doesn't want you to find eternal life. He wants as many as possible to join in his eternal damnation.
Yet the Holy Spirit wants to reason with you and tell you the Truth:
Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.
Isaiah 1:18
Am I good enough, no, never! Am I loved enough, yes, absolutely and so are you.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Today, make a decision, the most important one of your life. Trust Jesus to save you and write your name down in the Book of Life.
I clearly remember at the age of 6 giving my life to Jesus and I'm certain that my name is written down in Heaven. I praise Jesus for saving me.
Come join the family!
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