How often do you want to be “the one?” I guess the answer depends on what you want out of life. For me, the most important aspect of my life is my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is my Savior, my Lord, my best friend, my protector, my shield, He’s my everything that everything else hinges on. One day I will stand before Him, and He will give me a review of how much I have lived my life for Him. Part of me dreads that day because I know of the failures of my life. I also know there are areas I overlook out of habit or ignorance. I will not fear standing before Him to determine my final home in Heaven. I know that I am saved and will spend eternity with Him, but I do know that I fail Him many times and I don’t want to disappoint Him.
I want to be the one that hears Him say “well done, thou good and faithful servant.” The thought of that brings very mixed emotions. Nothing will bring me greater joy than to hear those words from my Savior. However, I know that if I have not been a good and faithful servant God will not lie! I will only hear those words if they are true.
In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus uses the parable of the talent to illustrate the faithful and the unfaithful servants. Those who have been faithful and served the way God intended for them to, not what they thought was right, but what God deems as right, will be rewarded for their faithfulness by entering into the joy of the Lord for all eternity. They have pleased Him well by taking what He has given them and using it to His glory.
Matthew 25:21 “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
How can we accomplish this with all the noise of the world pushing in on us? I John 2:28 gives us the answer. We are to abide in Him. We must put Him first in everything we do and trust Him to bring to us what He deems as best for us. To abide is to dwell within Him. To stay close to Him, to continue, to endure, not allowing anything to come between our relationship.
How do we abide? We study His word. God wrote His love letter to us by giving us the Bible. It was written to teach us who He is and how we can please Him. It teaches of His love that far exceeds anything we could ever imagine in this world. It teaches us of His holiness that will not allow Him to be in the presence of sin. Yet, that great love caused Him to give His perfect Son to pay the penalty for our sin so He could offer us eternal life with Him. In II Timothy 2:15, Paul teaches us that we are to study God’s word, not just read it, but study to know what God requires and understand His plan for our lives. It will also help us to be obedient to Him, then when we stand before Him one day, we won’t be ashamed. We will have learned the truth and lived the truth. We will also have made a great impact on this world for Him. We will live with confidence that we can stand before Him and hear Him say well done, thou good and faithful servant.
I John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
II Timothy 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
The other way we prepare ourselves for that day is by communicating with Him. His word is Him speaking to us, our prayer is our talking to Him. It takes two-way communication for any relationship to be what it ought to be. It takes both study and prayer to have a healthy relationship.
My goal in life is to please Him in all I do. I fail so many times, but I know He will forgive if I ask. I John 1:9 teaches me that truth. I want to keep the slate clean and stay close to Him so that when I die, I will stand before Him and hear Him say well done thou good and faithful servant.
I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In my mind, I don’t believe I will be standing when I come before Him. I see myself so unworthy to stand in His presence, I see myself as prostrate on the ground before Him. I want so desperately to hear those words. I want to be the one He can count on to stay faithful to Him. I want to be the one that follows closely so I can hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit nudging me to speak to someone about Him. Most of all, I want to be the one that hears Him say “well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter now into the presence of the Lord”
Will I succeed in this mission? With His help, I can. As I trust and obey, He will lead. As I purpose in my heart and determine with my will, that I will submit to His authority, He will provide everything I need to complete the task. Then, one day, I will be one of the ones to hear Him say Well Done!
Have you thought about what it will be like when you stand before Him? I challenge you to spend some time this week seeking out what God expects from His children and seek to honor Him by obeying.
