Bev and I took advantage
of the historically low interest rates and refinanced our home last year. The
mortgage representative that took our application called me the next day with
the good news. “Jerry,” he said, “you will have no problem getting your new
loan and at the best rate we offer. Your credit score is very high.” That was
good news, but not unexpected. Why? I do
not take loans I cannot pay, have been blessed with a steady income, and meet
my financial obligations in a timely manner.
Your credit score ranges from 300 to 850. It is calculated by evaluating many types of
information from our financial history. A
person without a lot of money can have a high score. A wealthy person can have a low score. The
FICO score not just about the resources someone has, it is about the stewardship of those resources. The key
factor is accountability, meeting a standard of performance.
Christians love to
talk about God’s grace, made available to all people because of His great love.
And, it is true! Our God relates to us
primarily as our caring and benevolent Abba. But, He is not indulgent. As our
good Father, He wants us to grow up, to become responsible, to be productive,
and to honor His name. There is a standard
of performance and He will hold us accountable.
That fact is sobering, as it ought to be.
I like to think of it this way, “What is my heavenly credit score? How responsibly am I managing the resources He
has invested in me?”
The Bible tells us
that "we are always confident and
know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We
live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be
away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
There it is. Life will reach fullness only in eternity, our true
home in the Presence of God. With that in
mind, “ we make it our goal to please
him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” Why? “We must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while
in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:6-10, NIV) If you think that passage is talking about
whether we end up in Heaven or Hell, your theology is deficient. Salvation and reward are two entirely
different issues.
We are set right with God, saved, granted the
life of the Spirit, and given an eternal home through Christ’s offering at the
Cross. We insult the very grace of God
if we delude ourselves into thinking we will ‘go to Heaven’ if we are good
enough! We are not, never could be. The Bible’s stark evaluation says, “there is none righteous, not one!” Christ’s holiness is a gift to us,
unearned, undeserved, provided through love so profound that it defies our comprehension.
"How great is the love the Father
has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! … Dear friends,
now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.
But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as
he is." (1 John 3:1-2, NIV) Yes, through Christ, I am, and you can be, a
member of His family.
So, what will we
do with that gift? Will we receive the gift of grace and build on it? Every Christian will stand before the Lord,
whose gaze sees past the carefully constructed images, who is not fooled by
excuses, who knows exactly what we are capable of doing; and we will give an
accounting as to how we met His standard of performance.
Prayerfully read
this truth today. It need not strike
terror in us. Our Lord is a fair judge,
a just judge. He asks no more of us than
we can produce and expects no less of us than that of which we are capable. He
will hold us accountable for the way we live.
For the faithful that is a truth full of promise, for they will receive
the rich rewards that may have eluded them while they lived on this earth. "No one can lay any other foundation than the
one we already have—Jesus Christ. Now anyone who builds on that foundation may
use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a
time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has
done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it
keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a
reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The
builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of
flames." (1 Corinthians 3:10-15, NLT)
So, what’s your
heavenly credit score? How are you managing the resources that God, the Holy
Spirit, has put in your care?
