Investment in Heaven!

Then I heard a voice from heaven say,
"Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."

Revelation 14:13

The great “Good News” of the Bible is that I am not saved by my own works. I am saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ! He is the Way to heaven and without His sacrifice nothing could ever save me from my sins.

Every man is tempted to approach God based on his own good works, especially if a man has plenty of them. When I am looking for work, and many are these days, I carefully craft my resume to impress my potential employer. I do not lie about anything, but the way it is presented can certainly influence the job selection process. I mention the good things I have done, and of course never bring up the bad things.

People frequently approach salvation the same way. They prepare a resume for God. “Here are the things that I have done that are good and which you should consider about my life. I have always been honest with other men. I have not tried to deceive. I have paid my taxes and obeyed the laws of the government. I have been kind to orphans and widows and helped take care of poor people. So Lord when you consider all these things don’t you think I should be saved?”

The problem with this approach is that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” It would be like a murderer standing before the court and telling the judge all the wonderful things he did other than the murder itself. That would not change the sentence. We are guilty before God in spite of all the good things we have done. We are saved only by the Blood of Jesus.

So what about our “good works?” Revelation 14:13 says they will follow us to our rest. We don’t go to heaven because of our good deeds, but our good deeds follow us there.

When you arrive in heaven you will not bring with you the money from your 401K. You will not bring all the power and honor given to you on this earth. You will not bring with you any of your possessions. But according to this verse the good deeds you did here will come with you.

When you reach out and touch some other human being with the love of Jesus you are “storing up treasure in heaven.” What we will do with that treasure no one knows, but seemingly there will be those in heaven who have more treasure than others.

When you store up treasure on this earth, you can lose it all during one bad trading day on the stock market. But when you store up treasure in heaven no one can steal it and nothing can take it away.

The good things you do as a follower of Jesus may be totally ignored and forgotten by men here on this earth, but God will not forget and those very deeds will follow you to Heaven!

Make another investment in Heaven today!