One Day Believers in Jesus will Go Home to Heaven; we must be ready
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely;
(The 1st Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians 5: 23 NASB)
and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
If you have lived long enough, then you know the adage “take the blame,” and you have rightfully been called to give an account for the actions performed. For instance, maybe when you were a child, you battled with your younger brother to help your mom unpack her new, white China plate. As the battle ensued to take hold of the next plate from the box, both your brother and you place hands on the SAME plate. It becomes a tug-of-war who will pull the plate from the box. However, the battle is not the worst of it, for once you BOTH have placed claim to the plate, you BOTH pull it from the box, and you BOTH tug for rightful ownership, and you BOTH bring the plate down to the dining room table, hitting the edge of the new plate, breaking off a piece.
That incident occurred fifty years ago, and still today, whenever I take out mom’s China plates to set the table for Christmas dinner, the glued chipped plate announces its presence, reminding me of the tug-of-war, the battle, and the consequences. Vividly etched in my mind are my mother’s tears as she sat there at the table (50 years ago), holding the broken plate, pleading with my dad to remember that we were children and did not mean to do wrong. However, dad knew we deserved the punishment for the action committed. BOTH my younger brother and I understood the truth: We had hurt mom’s heart by our actions, and we had hurt dad’s heart by the consequence he knew had to come.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; . . .”
It is impossible to merely wander on accident into God’s sanctification because it is a daily, stepping by faith, growing more like Jesus each day. Over time, God Himself will complete the spiritual growth within each of His children. At that moment, we will become ENTIRELY ready to go home to heaven. Only God knows when.
“and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, . . .”
Believers struggle with sin every single day, as they work out the salvation God has given to them. Without the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, there is NO WAY for the followers of Christ to produce the fruit He calls us to produce—apart from God. Thank You, LORD, for living inside each believer’s being, filling us, guiding us, leading us, pruning us, preparing us for our heavenly home, and preserving us. One day we will be FIT for heaven. Only God knows when our fitfulness will be complete.
“without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The process of God’s sanctification begins at the exact moment of our salvation, and the process transforms our heart. We are changed from the inside-out, made complete within our interior, and made more lovely to those who surround us, as we serve God, doing His will, with the Lord Jesus Christ as our example. The transforming may take one single day, one year, ten years, or forty-plus years, but by the time Jesus comes for us, God’s children will be made READY. We do not know how many days we have remaining or how many more days allotted to us to walk within the will of God. Only God knows when He will send Jesus to retrieve us; therefore, we must be ready.
May we remember how we are sinners saved by grace, and may we recall how it is by the mercy of God that we do not deserve the due punishment for our sins that we rightfully deserve. Our sinful nature tugs us one way, even while the Spirit pulls us toward the Father.
Thank You, LORD, for your wonderful mercy and amazing grace, AND Thank You, Father, for Your indwelling Holy Spirit, given to us at our salvation, marking time with us as we are made ready for eternity with YOU.
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
(The Letter of Paul to the Philippians 2: 12-13 NASB)
but now much more in my absence,
work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”