When you think of the Biblical person of Samson, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Super human strength certainly jumps right up for me. But the real lesson that comes from Samson rings all too clear – giving in to temptation will only end you up in ruin.
Ironically, Samson was the strongest man who ever lived, but he came from the weakest tribe that ever lived in Israel. There was no pushing Samson around and everyone knew it. The Philistines so feared Samson that they had to let him walk right into their borders without so much as telling him to leave for fear he would wipe them out. They struggled with Samson for years and it seemed there would be no way to bring this hulk down.
Then someone got wind that Samson could not overcome his temptation for women. Any woman! All women! But especially foreign women! Samson decided to put pleasure ahead of principle and it brought the strongest man in the world to his knees, and ultimately he would lose his life because of it.
In today’s world, temptation is surrounding us all day long every day. You go to work, and someone brings in a platter of sweets. Your family is busy so you decide to eat out much more. When you finally get a free minute, you wouldn’t dream of going to the gym because we are too tired and our favorite show is on the TV. Commercials tell us that drinking beer will make legions of women throw themselves at men. The majority of women on TV seemingly never eat and look perfect every minute of the day. The temptations never end because satan never sleeps.
I had a conversation with a friend today and he told me this, “Brad, all I want to do is ensure that I get into Heaven. Everyone is the same in Heaven and everyone will just be happy to be there.” Oh how wrong my friend is. So I had to tell him this:
“You need to think of life as being much like an Olympic ceremony. When you win an event, you stand on the highest pedestal, but they don’t come up to you and ask you what your favorite song is and play that. No sir! They play your home nations national anthem. That is because you are a representative of that nation or kingdom. Here on Earth, if you are a believer, you are representing Christ’s Kingdom on Earth. How well you represent that Kingdom will say much about how you will spend Eternity. How so you ask? The Bible tells us that upon Jesus’ return, the saints (us believers) will fly up with Him as He begins His reign of 1000 years here on Earth. Our Earth gets remade into Heaven. Then we will have a judgment and it will be based on how well we represented Christ here on Earth. So think of it this way, the job that Jesus will give you will be based on how well you served Him during your time on Earth. So let me ask you, how well are you serving God?”
Believe it or not, there will still be street sweepers in Heaven during the 1000 year reign, and there is every possibility that you may be spending your 1000 year period with a Heavenly broom in your hand and waiting for people to move so that you can clean up after them! Now in order to earn a better job, say like Head Worshipper, you need to ensure that you are giving 100% of yourself to God while you are here. Remember that to those whom are given much, much is expected. It is simply not enough to go to church each week and call yourself a Christian. God expects, and rightly deserves, much more than that.
So tonight I challenge you to ask yourself, what does your Heavenly resume look like right now? Are you qualified for the awesome jobs in Heaven, or will you have a headset mic on and be saying, “would you like fries with that?” A thousand years will be a very long time, and you job in Heaven will be a reward that God gives you for faithful service to Him. Make a decision now to stop living for the perfect Earthly home or job and starting padding your Heavenly resume.
God, in your word, many times You tell us of the rewards you have waiting for us in Heaven. Since we cannot see a catalog of them or touch them or feel them, we often times lose sight of them totally. Of course, getting into Heaven itself will be the most awesome thing to ever happen to anyone, but it will be truly surprising for us to have You show us rewards we could never even dream of that we will not get because we were poor stewards of our Earthly time and resources. Lord, I pray tonight that everyone reading this message will turn their eyes away from Earthly prizes and begin storing up their treasures in Heaven. Thank You for your never ending love, grace, and mercy Father. In Jesus name, Amen!
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