-June 28, 2022-
Good morning, happy Tuesday,
“So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.”
(Romans 14:12).
Our first stop when we get to heaven will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ; not be be judged for our sins, which are cleansed and forgiven through the blood of Christ; but to be reviewed and evaluated for our service for our Lord. We will receive crowns for our faithfulness to our Savior. Paul includes himself with all believers as appearing before the Lord who knows all that we have said and done, every attitude, every motive, and every desire. The Greek word for judgment seat is bema. The Christians in Paul’s day were familiar with the Romans judgment seat where decisions were decreed from.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” This should motivate us to be more committed, surrendered, obedient, and faithful in our service for Christ. Our review by the Lord will be just between him and each believer privately, much like an earthly boss does with his employees.
Paul goes into great detail on this evaluation in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which has has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet through fire.” Paul is careful to show that note that no one will lose their salvation over bad results.
Jesus tests our works, some will be gold, silver, and precious stones. Others, will be wood, hay, and straw. The fire exposes, reveals, and refines our works. Those works which we did in Jesus’ name and for His glory, result in rewards; on the other hand, wood, hay, and straw are extremely flammable and will be burned. We won’t remember everything we did, but our Lord will. Perhaps some things we did we thought were great, will be burned, and some things that we thought we were so small or insignificant, we will receive rewards for them.
The Lord in affect, tells us ahead so we can be prepared. He wants all of us to have many crowns to lay at His feet. Any crowns we receive will be because of Him and with His help. The Lord shows perfect justice and there will be no room for debate or discussion. John in describing Jesus in Revelation 1:13-16, says that “His eyes are like a flame of fire.” His eyes will see right through us. The judgment seat of Christ will involve review and reward, gain or loss, joy or sorrow.
How then should we thus live for Jesus and serve Him on earth? We must be sincere and genuine in all we do. Now is not the time to judge others, but it is high time we judged ourselves in the light of the Scriptures. The Bible is our textbook for living. We will have no regrets at the judgment seat, if our service for Him is full and complete.
Have a blessed day serving the Lord, in His name and for His glory, not our own. Stay safe and healthy.
In His eternal service,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 