Do you believe that if you die today, you’ll go to heaven? This is a tough question for most of us. Before, I used to have difficulty answering this one. But now that I’m beginning to know God more and more, I can shout with definite conviction that YES, I’M GOING TO HEAVEN! I’m not saying that I’m perfect and holy. In fact, I can’t achieve the holiness that God recognizes. But I know I’m going to heaven because I’ve received Christ as my Lord and Savior. And I know that’s all I need to be saved: To admit my sins to God and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. (1 John 5:11-13 NIV And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.)
Too easy for you? It’s true! It’s called grace. A gift from God. We don’t deserve it, but He gave it to us. No good works, no having to make up for your mistakes. None. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.) That’s how much He loves us, all we need to do is believe. (John 3:16 NIV 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.)
Now, although the only thing we need to do is accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have to test and check if this acceptance holds true in our lives. If it is real, genuine acceptance. You see, when you’re already in Christ, it will reflect in your life. The worldly things that used to be normal for you would be detestable, or questionable. There will be change. I’m not saying that it’s overnight. But what I can attest to is there will definitely be struggle. Why? Because your old self will die, and Jesus will live in You. If you’ve really accepted Him and allow Him to work in your life, you and the people around you will know that there’s something happening, changing in you. A changed life. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!)
So what constitutes a changed life? Your priorities will definitely be different. You’ll want to please God instead of others. You’ll want to know Him more and walk in His way. Most though, like I did, don’t know where to start. When you’re beginning a relationship with someone, you’d want to know him right? This is the same with God. You’d want to know every aspect of Him. Good thing there’s the bible! It’s all there! The bible is His Word. All his likes and dislikes are there. Everything that matters is there. All His instructions are there. He even tells you there how you’ll know if you’re already in love with Him.
You want to know how? When I started really seeking Him, a friend suggested starting with the book of John. And Jesus gives His answer on who loves Him in John 14:15, 21 and 23. [John 14: 15, 21, 23 NIV “[15] “If you love me, keep my commands.” [21] “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” [23] Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”]
Jesus said that the one who loves Him knows His commands and keeps them. We’ll get to know His commands in the bible, that’s why it’s very important to read it every day. Do you remember God’s greatest commandment? Mark 12:29-30 NIV “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
We are all familiar with God’s great commandment. But are we practicing it? Are we loving Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength? Do we see it in our lives? How much time do we spend on God? Is He our priority? Or are we prioritizing our family, work, hobbies, ourselves over Him? Are we turning them or ourselves into idols (anything that we put first before God is an idol)? Are we praying to others instead of Him through Jesus Christ? [John 14:6 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”]
These are tough questions that we should always ask ourselves, that I should ask myself to check if I’m walking in God’s path. (2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?) Isn’t it better to know right now than on the day of judgment, when what He might say is: Matthew 7:23 NIV Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’?
Is this message too heavy for you? Do you want to ignore it and go back to your old life, your old ways? Or do you want to start prioritizing Him?
If you want to start prioritizing Him, there’s great news I want to share to you. He wants it too, & is helping us by sending us the Holy Spirit once we’ve accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We just have to pray for the Holy Spirit to work in us. And read the bible so the Holy Spirit can use His Word to guide us. (John 14:26 NIV But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.)
coffee talks with Him 
Very well written! I can say that this is really Holy Spirit inspired writing 🙂
Wow Rory thank you! I just really pray that in this post, seeds will be planted in the hearts of those who read it. 🙂
Very nice food for thought, liana! Congratulations! Sharing this….. 🙂
Thank you so much Doms! 🙂
I laud the excellent writing.
However, please don’t leave out “love your neighbor as yourself,” as this is part of God’s greatest commandments. Each equally important as if one is absent you can never say that you truly love Him.
Remember the Goats and the Sheep? “What you’ve done to the least of my brothers, you have done unto me.” If you’ve ignored the marginalized, you’ve ignored the triune God, despite showing love to Him. This is because it’s not only through reading the scriptures and dedicating your time to Him that He asks from us, but through both your dedication to Him and the poor and oppressed. Even in Jesus’ life, as written in the Bible, a bulk of his ministry is the service of the poor and oppressed. Jesus had part of His time alone with God and praying to Him, and part of His time being with the apostles, healing the sick, eating with the poor and rich (who’ve come to Him).
What I ask of those who read this amazing article is to give your 100% to both halves of his greatest commandments. Not just to one half. Why? Because if you only do so in one, then what He’s getting from you is 50%. I know it’s already difficult to do one half and it’s much more complicated to do both, but, in doing both, one can truly tell that Jesus truly is in you.
“No one comes through the Father except through me,” doesn’t only mean through prayer, but also through living a life imitating Christ’s acts – both through loving God and having the preferential option to the poor.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the post and sharing your thoughts and comments. 🙂
Yes, I agree with you that we shouldn’t disregard the second greatest commandment. James 2:10 says “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
I plan to talk about the 2nd greatest commandment at another post and decided to focus first on God because we should all start with God, get to know Him and read His word. In reading His word, we will surely see that He wants us to share our blessings to others and to love one another as Jesus loved us.
It’s important to help others because good works is a result of our salvation. And I hope you’ll continue to visit this blog and read about it in my future posts! Have a good day and God Bless!