Your Life is Preparation for Eternity

 

What is Your Life? Part 3

Introduction

Several years ago, someone turned the word, “Bible” into an acronym and it stands for: Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. This couldn’t be a truer statement and I used it, once, for a sermon outline.

Solomon wrote, Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 12:1). If we become a Christians at a young age, instead of waiting for retirement, we can utilize our life in preparation of eternity.

At the conclusion of chapter 12 it states, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Keeping God’s commandments is what makes up the Christian. The more time we give ourselves, the more ready we will be for the Day of Judgment.

 

Obedience is a Key Factor

Belief is primary in becoming a Christian. I’ve talked about this many times before. However, there are a lot of people, out there, in the religious world who think that belief (or Faith) is all you need. James has already refuted that in chapter 2 of his book. Read all of the chapter especially verses 17-26.

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Notice that last part, who does the will of My Father. “Does” is an action word and “will” means obedience.

He goes on to say, "If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) Again, it has to do with obedience. I don’t understand why people don’t get it when it’s right there in their bibles as it is in mine!

 

Study, Study, Study, and Study some More

The bible really isn’t as big as some make it out to be. Sure, it has 66 books and thousands of words, but it could be a lot longer. Look at the first chapter of Genesis. It tells of creation; six days everything was created, including man, and it’s all told in just one chapter. God is giving us facts. If man wrote the bible, he’d spend half of Genesis just talking about all of the various things that God created. We’ll look at Genesis in more detail in an upcoming series of articles later this year.

A study of anything is required to become knowledgeable in any subject. That way when people have questions, you can answer them. If you don’t know the answer, then you’ll know someone who does and then you can both learn.

You don’t have to know every single part of the bible all at once. Since your life is used to prepare for eternity, you can learn the basics and then go back for a deeper study.

The apostle Paul wrote, But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). All too often, people rely on what others say about the bible instead of reading it themselves. They’ll read what commentators have to say about a verse or a passage and they conclude that they are right since they have been studying longer. As a friend of mine once said, “Remember that the word, ‘commentator’ can be seen as ‘common tater’.” Their words aren’t always trustworthy.

Most of your commentaries have a denominational slant as they are pushing a certain agenda. You can read the scriptures for yourself and get an understanding when you look at verses in the context of the passage or, even, the entire chapter that it’s a part of.

The apostle John writes, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world…We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error (1 John 4:1, 6). A commentator can have decades of study and still be wrong about a verse or passage. You just have to utilize a little patience and read it for yourself.

 

Share what you’ve learned!

One of the best ways to improve your studies is to teach others. Paul writes, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV). But before that, he tells Timothy, And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV). This is how new Christians are made! You learned from someone, now it’s your turn to teach someone else.

Conclusion

Regardless of how long you live on Earth, when you use that time to study the scriptures, you are preparing yourself for eternity. As Jesus says, “…Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)