April 19
“Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)
The judgment seat of Christ in the verse referenced above has to do with the judgment of each believer. This is different from the Great White Throne judgment described in Revelation 20:11-12 and probably also Matthew 25:31-46. The judgment Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5 is not a judgment of heaven or hell, like it is in the Great White Throne judgment, but rather it is a judgment of evaluating and rewarding each believer for their labors “in the body,” that is, for the Body of Christ and for the Lord Himself.
How much time do you spend thinking about that judgment day? [If you are not a Christian, your first concern is coming to believe in Christ so that you will make it past the Great White Throne judgment and not be cast into the lake of fire. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, lived a sinless life and then gave His life for us on the cross; He died for the purpose of enabling us to live with Him forever. He was raised from the dead on the third day and lives today at the right hand of God. All who believe these things, specifically His deity and His resurrection (Romans 10:9-10), are born again and receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Believe in Jesus today!]
How much time do you spend preparing and planning for that day? Have you ever had a nightmare in which you go to school, and you don’t have any clothes on, or you are completely unprepared for the test? And you just stand there humiliated? The judgment day of Christ for some may be like that, only possibly a thousand times worse since it is for real, and it will carry eternal consequences. Have you ever thought about how awful it will be for some, possibly me and possibly you, when we stand before Him and don’t have much to say for ourselves or our lives here on earth, when we stand by and watch our time and works get consumed by His fire of testing (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)?
I dread that thought and that coming judgment, and I fear that much of my life will be revealed as having been wasted. Sometimes I think my only hope is that He will allow me, the straggler, to go to the field late in the day and at least do a little work for Him (Matthew 20). How about you? Have you been laboring well, and are you finishing well?
Christian, where is your hope, in this life or the next? Where is your joy, doing your own will of the will of your Father in heaven? Where are you storing up your treasure, on this earth or in heaven? How are you investing your time, for things that will perish or things that will last forever?
What is your plan to ensure that when you stand before the Lord that you are not ashamed? Do you have a plan, and are you hard at work on it? If not, why not? Do you not know that judgment is coming?