As I am working today in the office taking care of things that are happening around me and the church, I am working with this blog. I have had several meetings about various matters relating to the ministry. I have done reading and preparation on messages for this week and the ones to come. There has been time in prayer for specific needs of members of the church and in some cases their families. All in all, it is actually a rather typical day for a pastor, even for a Monday.
With all of that said, there is a recurring thought I am having, and it is that as believers and churches we are the only ones that have what people need. Now that is certainly true for this life, but even more important for the life to follow.
We all spend time planning and mapping out what we are going to do. Elaine and I travel regularly with our RV. Now we are out every week to preach at Northwest Baptist in Gainesville, FL, so we are in the RV. So, we are planning some trips in between the weekends when we are in Gainesville.
Last summer we went to Yellowstone in Wyoming as we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful trip, and we had a great time. We were gone for a month and knew exactly where we would be at any given time. We knew where we would stay and how long we would be there. We planned that trip and I actually started making reservations and mapping our travel routes in the fall of 2020 for a trip that would not take place until June 2021.
Thinking about that today there was a lot of time put into where we were going. Now that was for a trip with time frame and distance. Have you ever thought about time frame and distance when it comes to eternity? The best way to understand this is to read God's Word and what is said in Psalms 90:2 that Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Eternity has always been, and it will always be, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. There has never been a time in the past nor will there be a time in the future when God was not and is not. Yet that time frame and distance we spoke about earlier needs to be considered by all of us in relation to where we will spend our eternity. Make no mistake about it, you have an eternity which will come and where you spend it and how you spend it must be determined and decided in this life. I know I made that determination years ago by accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. Knowing Him in that way assures me of an eternity with Him in Heaven.
This is something that is very important to me, that people understand that eternity is real. There are two places where a person will spend eternity. There is a place called hell. Revelation 20:15 says And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The only way to have your name in the book of life is to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. You can certainly try to be a good person and do good deeds but the Bible reminds us as we see in Romans 3:10 in the Amplified Bible As it is written and forever remains written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS [none that meets God’s standard], NOT EVEN ONE. So you can try but it will fall short before God.
Listen, God is not going to allow your sin into His Heaven. In Revelation 21:27 John says But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. That is why He sent His Son and in John 3:17 we read Jesus' own words “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
I find it interesting that probably more than we would think, people who attend church and even say they are Christians, may not be Christians. Identifying and even calling yourself a Christian does not make you one. The only way to be a Christian is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Being raised in the church doesn't do it. Attending church doesn't do it. Being a good person doesn't do it. Giving to others doesn't do it and the list goes on. All of those are things we should do but they are what comes after salvation. Everyone comes to it the same way. No matter their upbringing, where they were born and raised, no matter what, everyone comes the same way. Old or young, rich or poor, everyone comes the same way.
There is an old children's song that says "red and yellow, black or white they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world". Let me explain that we are all children before God. Becoming a child of God requires faith in Jesus Christ. “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12
So today, as you are reading this blog, I want to ask you to be certain that you are saved. If you are not, then I want to lovingly encourage you to do so. If you want help in doing so today, then send us an email now to info@ElbertNasworthy.com and give us your contact information and we will get back to you. We will answer any questions and pray with you about your eternity and knowing where you are going.
Today the question was "Are you planning a trip?" If you have already and know where you are going, we are excited for you. If not, then we hope and pray that today you can nail down that trip's destination.
In God's Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy