Jun 23

In Malachi 3:18, God declares that when he judges the world and each person in it for how he lived his life, that then once more we will be able to distinguish between the rightous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

How will we distinguish between these two groups of people? According to God's Word, it will be very easy to see the difference: One group will lose everything, the other will keep certain things that are of value to them because they are of value to God. Apparently some things do carry over from one world to the next. What are they?

Sometimes, they are the same things for both groups. What I mean by that is that certain things cherished in this world by both the godly and the ungodly will be kept by the godly but lost by the ungodly. It is not the thing in itself that determines whether it is kept or not, but whether or not the person valuing that possession has surrendered it to the Lord as belonging to the Lord.

Chief among such cherished possessions is life itself. God's Word says that those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus will keep those lives forever; those who have not will lose them forever.

"Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it" (Lk. 17:33).

Scripture for today: Mt. 10:39; Mk. 8:35; Lk. 17:33; Jn. 12:35
Thought for today: I keep my life forever by giving it away to Jesus.
Prayer for today: Here, Jesus, is my life. Do with it as you please. It is not my life to live as I please but yours to do with as you please.

JUN 23