“I was talking with a neighbor last night,” Stan began, “about Christ, Christianity, and what it means to me.”
“Is your neighbor a believer?” I asked.
“Afraid not,” Stan replied, “and he has the common worldly notion that he has a life that he can choose to live exactly as he wants.”
“That’s true, isn’t it?” I responded.
“Sure is,” Stan said, “but I believe there are eternal consequences to my choices. Depending on the choices I make, when it’s time for me to step into eternity, I will ether be on the train to spend eternity with God, or I will be eternally separated from Him.”
“Big time difference!” I responded.
“You’ve got that right, my friend,” Stan replied. “Big difference from a big choice.”
“To me,” he continued, “the choice is simple. I know what train I want to be on, but I didn’t always have that knowledge. For too long, I was just like my neighbor in thinking I didn’t want anyone, especially God, to tell me how to live my life. I had one life to live, and I was going to live it exactly as I wanted.”
“What changed your mind?” I asked.
“The truth,” Stan replied. “The truth of what Jesus did through His finished work on the cross that gave me the opportunity to accept by faith the free and gracious gift of salvation. From that truth has flowed a second truth of what I am to do with that salvation for as long as God keeps me on this side of eternity.”
“Which is what?” I asked.
“Live the complete life that God intends, not the incomplete life that I can live apart from Him.”
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And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. Colossians 1:28.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12, 13.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for those who brought me to the truth and for those who brought the truth to me. Thank you for drawing me to you so that you could, in turn, respond to me by drawing ever closer to me. Thank you for the gift of your presence in me through your Holy Spirit who leads me in living the life you intend on this side of eternity. I confess that too often I ignore the leading, helping, and counsel of the Holy Spirit. Please forgive me of those foolish choices. And please, Father, help me in following your lead in being complete in Christ, living only the life you have for me. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in His name. Amen.
01Think on this: We each have one life to live. God allows us to choose how we are going to live it, but choices have consequences. Have you chosen to spend eternity in His presence or are you going to spend eternity separated from Him? Why have you made the choice you have? If you are going to spend eternity with God, what about the choices you make on this side of eternity while you wait for the train? Remember that choosing to accept the ticket is not the end of the story; it’s the beginning of living the life He intends. How are you doing with that? How would you like to be doing?
Waiting for the Train 