Once in Sunday school, I asked the kids: "What do you need to do to get into Heaven?" And they started telling me: "listen to your parents, do good things", and they continued listing everything that they were taught.
Then I asked them: "What if I do a lot of good things but don't believe in Jesus, then what? Will I go to Heaven?" And they said, "no".
You could say that this is a common truth that everyone knows. But even in my own life, I realized that sometimes I make the same mistake in my reasoning, even though it looks a little different.
Once I was thinking about my day and analyzing what I did that day, whether my decisions and my actions were right or wrong. I was asking the Lord how He would evaluate everything that I did today. And God asked me how I would evaluate my relationship with Him.
And suddenly I realized that I switched my attention the same way as the kids did in my Sunday school - I was more worried about my actions than about my relationship! But God views things very differently!
God doesn't expect us to lead a perfect life. He doesn't expect us to know everything and He realizes that we won't be able to be blameless and sinless all the time. But He wants us to have a relationship with Him.
God expects us to seek Him from morning during the whole day. He wants us to seek His help, His inspiration. I'm not saying that our actions are unimportant, by no means! But I'm saying that if the Holy Spirit lives in us He will lead us Himself in our ways and our decisions.
God is looking at our hearts and He sees both the motives and the consequences of our actions.
That's why I want to remind myself - and you as well - that the greatest and the most important thing that you can do today is to come to your Heavenly Father to simply talk to Him. Thank Him for His mercy, which is new every morning. Ask forgiveness for whatever you did wrong. Invite Him into your heart and show Him how much you need His presence and His guidance. Tell Him how much you love Him. All this is very valuable in the Lord's eyes.
And you don't have to spend a few hours kneeling down in prayer (though if you can do it - it's awesome!) You can talk to God with your words, or your thoughts, or even your songs; at home, on the road, at work - however and whenever you feel like it. When prayer becomes your lifestyle, when your relationship with Christ will exceed your Sunday church time, you will see that your actions as well are pleasing both to you and to God. And then you will definitely be able to get into Heaven!
Comments