We need to be aware of what God requires from us while granting His untold number of blessings in our life. We should know the reason we were put on this earth.
Our Lord Jesus, who is God the same as God our Father, wants us to have a happy life, but He also wants us to worship Him. If we simply go through life reaping His blessings without acknowledging the source, He will not be pleased. We must please the Lord if we are to spend eternity with Him.
Our life on earth is only as a blink of an eye in contrast to our time in eternity. Eternity is forever. Even if we live to be 100, a long earth life, this is nothing compared to the time we will spend as living beings after our earthly bodies die and for life in Heaven we are given new bodies. Also no matter how great our life has been, our life in Heaven will be infinitely more beautiful. If we have sufferings, they will all be taken away.
What is our real self that lives forever? Our soul or spirit is our real self. Our bodies are merely a home for our soul while we are on earth. Our soul existed before we were born on earth and will continue to exist after we leave earth, it will exist forever. Therefore we should be far more interested is what happens to our soul than in life’s pleasures, important to us as they are.
The Bible tells us and Jesus made it quite clear while He was on earth that He absolutely requires us to worship Him. Yes we pray to God the Father, but we do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus is quoted in John 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This simply means that unless we acknowledge Christ as our Lord and Savior, confess our sins (everyone sins), ask forgiveness and pledge our lives to Him, we will never be in Heaven with Him and His Father. Don’t be afraid to take this step, there is no downside, just a wonderful blessing.
Why is prayer important? This is the way we talk to God. Before Jesus came to earth and died for our sins, people could only communicate with God through priests. Jesus opened the channel for everyone to talk directly to God the Father. He wants us to tell Him all of our concerns and seek His help and guidance. He is always listening for us to come to Him. No request or plea is too trivial, and none too difficult for Him. No, He does not grant requests instantly like a genie, and He doesn’t grant our every plea. We may never understand how He chooses to respond to our prayers. But He is a loving God and will always help us bear any affliction if we ask for His help. All requests to God the Father should be made in the name of Jesus Christ at the end of the prayer. Jesus is our emissary and will petition our Father in our behalf.
What else do we need to do to endear ourselves to our Lord Jesus and to our Father? God is love, that is one of the definitions of who God is. In Heaven there is only love, no hate, grudges or fear, just love. For that reason we must demonstrate our love while we are on earth in order to be admitted to Heaven.
When Jesus was asked what we must do to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, he answered "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27. Jesus went on to explain in other passages that this means that we are to love Him above everything and above everybody else. We are also required to love our family and our neighbors. To Jesus, ‘neighbors’ means everyone who crosses our path in life, or whom we know or know of in one way or another.
When we come to realize the wonderful benefits that God has bestowed on us, we will want to tell everybody about it. Jesus commanded that we spread the message of salvation. This is an important way to let others know that we love them.
How do we get to know our God? Fortunately we have the modern Bible that tells the story of Jesus while He was walking on this earth. The gospels of Jesus were written by men who knew Him. In the Old Testament we learn about God our Father in so many ways. It also has references to the future coming of Jesus as Messiah foretold thousands of years before Jesus’ birth on earth. Daily Bible reading is important if we are to know our God. The Bible is very interesting, not boring. Many of the books tell intriguing stories, the adventures of real people. The Bible also tells us what is ahead for us on earth and in Heaven.
Why were we put on this earth? Our journey here is merely a training ground for Heaven. Our conduct will prepare us to be with Him forever, or not. If we waste this wonderful opportunity, we will be forever sorry. When Christians meet our Savior in Heaven, we will be asked to justify what we have done while on earth. Records of everything we have done or said, even our thoughts are kept by angels. This record will be reviewed. However, our Lord knows all of this so He does not have to refer to it personally. Can we justify what we have done, how we have lived, what has been most important to us in our lives? If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our past sins are forgiven and forgotten. But we still have to justify ourselves to our Lord. Have we really given our life to Him? Do we worship Him and communicate with Him in prayer and how often? Do we really love Him with all our heart as He commanded?
If today He came to take His chosen ones to Heaven, would we be ready for Him?
For our own salvation we should keep these things in mind all the time.