For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV
It seems no matter what we do these days, someone wants us to rate our experience. Everyone wants a survey or a rating. I typically don’t complete these surveys and ratings unless I get extremely poor service or extremely good service.
A relative who works for a very large national company told me these ratings can have a severe impact on them. They can be rejected for an upcoming raise or promotion or even lose their job due to poor ratings.
Do you ever wonder if you were to face God right now how you would rate? Would you score low, high or fall somewhere in between.
What do we know about God’s rating system. Well, we know from our Scripture passage and others like it, God is going to judge each and every one of us. Revelation 20:12 says, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and the books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was in the books, according to what they had done.
We are being rated. We will all face judgment. Revelation 20:15 says anyone not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
If we are truly saved, we rate high enough to enter heaven. We know those found in the book of life will spend eternity in heaven. The dead, or those not found in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.
Our former pastor believed we are all written in the book of life, but if we reject Christ as our Savior, our names are blotted out. There are several Scriptures that support this. In Exodus 32:33, the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.” Psalm 69:28 says, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, let them not be enrolled among the righteous.”
In Revelation 3:5 Jesus said, “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”
What does God want from us? Well, He sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from our sins. He wants us to draw near to Him through prayer and Bible study. He wants us to accept His Son as our Savior. He wants us all to be saved.
When we are truly saved, we strive to please Him and are not worried about how our fellow man rates us, only God.
We love Him with all our heart. We put Him first in all we do. He rates highest on our list. We want to bring Him glory and honor and praise in all we say and do. We want to gather with fellow Christians and praise and worship Him on a regular basis. We want to spend time with Him daily in prayer and Bible study.
Salvation changes our wants and desires. Be sure you are truly saved. This will keep your name in the book of life.
My friend if you have given thought to your rating and think you may rate low or somewhere in between know this is not good enough. You don’t want to barely make it. You need to be sure. None of us know when we will leave this earth and face judgment. We do, however, know that once we do it is too late.
Get it right, right now. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Trust in Him and give your life over to Him. If you are unsure about your salvation pray to Him about this. Do your best to get His highest rating.
Have a great day!