Like 13:22-30.
As the world rushes towards its inevitable end, people are still struggling to achieve their set goals and objectives while they can, with very few of them realising the gravity of what lies ahead at the end of their lives.
As humans we are guilty of this negligence: most of our time is invested in the struggle towards a physical and temporal survival even when we are aware that whatever we achieve in this life will eventually perish with use, age and other inevitable factors of earthly life. Consider the scripture passage below from the New Living Translation:
Luke.13.22 – Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem.
Luke.13.23 – Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He replied,
Luke.13.24 – ” The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, because many will try to enter,
Luke.13.25 – but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. Then you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know you .’
Luke.13.26 – You will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets .’
Luke.13.27 – And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you. Go away, all you who do evil.’
Luke.13.28 – “And there will be great weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets within the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out.
Luke.13.29 – Then people will come from all over the world to take their places in the Kingdom of God. –
Luke.13.30 – And note this: Some who are despised now will be greatly honored then; and some who are greatly honored now will be despised then. “
Do we, like the man who asked Jesus Christ that question, ever take time off the mad rush to consider, even for a moment, the most important aspect of our lives, which is our relationship with God? It may not seem to matter now to someone that they need to have a relationship with God but, nevertheless, this fact will be questioned on the day God judges everyone who ever lived.
God’s word says in 2Cor.5.10 NLT “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in our bodies. “
On that day of judgment every thing without eternal value, which we have laboured to achieved all our life time, will pale into insignificance. The only thing that will matter then will be our relationship with Jesus Christ, and how we have treated that relationship while we had time on our side.
Isa.55.6 NLT – “Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
Isa.55.7 NLT – Let the people turn from their wicked deeds. Let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
At that time of judgment lost opportunities will be forever lost, and lost souls will have been irredeemably lost for eternity.
On that day the voice of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, that once tenderly called for repentance will sternly condemn the unrepentant sinner to eternal shame and damnation.
Luke.13.27 NLT – “And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you. Go away, all you who do evil.’ “
From the text above, we can outline some salient points to ponder, namely:
- Even in our daily struggles for survival, we can still make out time to talk to God in prayer, asking Him to help with the welfare and destiny of our soul. The irony, though, is that very few people care to do this while the majority carry on with their lives as if there is no day of reckoning with God; yet God’s word says in Eccl.11.9 -1 0 NLT:” Young man, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So banish grief and pain, but remember that youth, with a whole life before it, still faces the threat of meaninglessness.”
- Heaven is worth struggling for over and above any other temporal ambition we might have in this transient life. Wisdom, therefore, demands that we place more emphasis on, and dedicate more time to the things which have eternal value while we still can. Luke.13.24 says: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. (NKJV). How sad it is to know that many people today are needlessly suffering due to a misplaced priority! On the one hand there is Jesus Christ offering all the love, mercy and forgiveness mankind has ever wanted, while on the other there are people seeking it where it can never be found. The pursuit of worldly, Christ-less pleasure will lead many souls to hell fire. In the end of their temporal life on earth, many people will fall short of gaining admission into the Kingdom of heaven because of the combined effects of covetousness and greed for worldly things. Jesus Christ gives us the remedy for a balanced life when He says: Matt.6.31 – “So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing.
Matt. 6 .32- Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs,
Matt.6.33 – and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.”
Anything else, which we expressly or inferentially consider to be of greater value to us than heaven, will ultimately lead the soul to eternal damnation because, as Jesus Christ says, “.. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:15(NIV).
Unless our priorities are set right; unless we seek God above the world, we will keep diminishing our chances of ever going to heaven to be with Him forever. See also the following scriptures: 1Timothy 6:11-12; 2Chronicles 15:1-2; 2Timothy 2:11-12; Jeremiah 29:13 .
- Our striving for the Kingdom of heaven must be sustained daily because God recognizes and rewards consistency. Those who are interested in just having a casual relationship with Him, only when the need for Him arises, will eventually fall out of favour with Him. Heb.10.38 NLT says : ” And a righteous person will live by faith. But I will have no pleasure in anyone who turns away.“
We must beware! Heaven loses those who lost their vision of heaven. Being a one-time friend of Jesus Christ is not the real deal – heaven recognizes and accepts only all-time friends! Jesus Christ warns us of this when He says:
Luke.13.26 – You will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets .’
Luke.13.27 – And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you. Go away, all you who do evil.’
Read also the following references: Hebrews 3:14; Philippians 3:12-14; Revelation 2:1-5, 25-26.
In conclusion, let me once again stress the following:
Heaven is worth striving for; our vision for the Kingdom of God is worth maintaining, and our friendship with Jesus Christ is worth protecting at any cost to our lives because that is the guarantee that He will recognize us at that moment when His recognition will be most crucial to our final redemption, joy and eternal life in His heavenly Kingdom.