Articles
Are You Ready To Tell God Why?
The Bible says a day is coming when we will tell God why we did what we did. “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). We will appear before “the judgment seat of Christ” and receive His judgment of our actions based upon His word (2 Cor. 5:10; Jno. 12:48).
We can yield to the temptation to rationalize our sins – sins of committing what violates God’s will and sins of omitting what God wants us to do (1 Jno. 3:4; Jas. 5:17) – both to ourselves and to others. This is a trait of self-righteousness as we convince ourselves we are better than others, since (figuratively speaking) we “fast twice a week” and “give tithes of all (we) possess” (Lk. 18:11-12). Yet, the apostle sternly warns us, “let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
And so, meditate on the answers you are giving yourself now about your conduct, and consider if you will be comfortable giving the same answers to Christ – face to face – on the Judgment Day.
“Why did you choose your personal comfort over assembling with the saints to worship?” Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together to worship God is a choice we make, a priority we set in our lives (Heb. 10:24-25). Some treat going to worship like they do personal exercise: they know they should do it, but it is easier to sit in the recliner than to get on the treadmill. So, they convince themselves their desire to exercise is equivalent to actually working out. (Of course, recliners rarely reduce the waistline. So, we comfort ourselves with our desire, as if it were our action.) Similarly, comforting ourselves that we want to be at worship services, but we are simply too tired to go, is not actually worshiping God or obeying Hebrews 10:25. Aren’t we glad Jesus did not choose personal comfort when He “bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24)? If the heaviest cross we have to bear is going to worship God being tired in the flesh, we really don’t have anything to complain about, do we (Lk. 9:23)? Or, to use as an excuse not to assemble with God’s people to worship Him. Are you ready to tell God why?
“Why did you refuse to surrender your heart to Jesus in order to obey Him in all things?” Many things vie for our attention and energy in this world. Things that are not sinful in themselves can be elevated in our minds to the point of sin (cf. 1 Tim. 6:10). We satisfy ourselves that we are being responsible, when we may in fact be forgetting to first be responsible to God (Matt. 6:33). For example, loving family is good and right (Eph. 6:1-4). But, loving family more than Jesus Christ is sin (Matt. 10:37). Why if Jesus pleased himself instead of doing the Father’s will? He would not have gone to the cross and you will still be lost in your sins. But, He did not please Himself; He did the Father’s will (Rom. 15:3; Jno. 8:29). Are you ready to explain to the Lord why you decided to please people in your life before and instead of pleasing Him (Heb. 13:21). Are you ready to tell God why?
Why not do this investigation with every area of your life? Or, are you ready to tell God why you did not examine yourself (2 Cor. 13:5)?
