Your Future, Your Plans, Your Expectations, Your Goals; are you achieving what you want? The future is an important part of life. For some owning a beautiful house is the goal. For others spending more time with friends and family is the plan. For you it may be to have a certain job, vacation, or to retire. No matter what your goals are you need to consider the future. One day though the future will be the past. At some point you will look back and be happy, or sad with your choices and the efforts spent to achieve that future.
At the end of your life on earth though your future will be the most important thing in your life. If your goal is to achieve good things after passing away then you need to prepare. If you do not care about your future life after death then you will certainly be sad with the results you experience. The Bible states in Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” So no matter how much you are able to obtain on earth (wealth, happiness, possessions, etc.) it will not profit (benefit) you at all. There are many stories shared where wealthy individuals became ill and were willing to give up all their wealth for healing. No matter what you are willing to sacrifice in the end it will mean nothing if you have not properly prepared for life after death.
So what do you need to do to prepare for your ultimate future??? The Bible tells us several things we must do in order to be ready for life after death. The keys are as follows:
- Acts 16:31 “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Believing on Jesus, and what he did for you and me is vital.
- I Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” This passage describes why Jesus came to earth. It speaks of sinners (evildoers). You may say that I only do good things so I am not a sinner. Then you should check out the next passage below.
- Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” What is stated here is that everyone (you, me and everyone who is born / has been born except Jesus) is a sinner. We know that even though in our eyes someone (maybe even you) is a great person, they still are not perfect, so everyone is a sinner.
- Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This means that because of our sins we will die. There is a penalty for wrongdoing, and it is ultimately death.
- Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This means that God loved us so much that Jesus (God’s perfect Son) died for our sins.
- Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Confess (speak) and believe. If you do this you shall be saved from eternal punishment.
- Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of our Lord.” Repentance (or turning away from) is the other part of this. If you truly believe in Jesus, and what He did for you, you must repent from your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart so your sins will not be held against you (no penalty to you).
- Matthew 18:3 “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” What this means is that if you have not been converted (changed through Jesus) you cannot go to heaven (the best place). The alternative to heaven is an awful place where you will go to if you have not believed, repented and confessed. Matthew 10:28 says body and soul can be destroyed in hell (the alternative to heaven and a great life in eternity)…”And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.”
In summary, to ensure you have a great future after you pass from this life into the next one you must believe in Jesus and His work, accept His payment for your sins, believe that God raised Jesus from death, repent of your sins by asking God to forgive you and verbally confess that Jesus is Lord. After you have done this some of the next steps to a fulfilled earthly life is to read God’s Word (the Bible), talk to him like you would someone right there with you (pray), be baptized as a visual sign to others that you are following Jesus, get involved with a good church so you can interact with others while learning more, and finally tell others about Jesus and help them to become closer to Him.
If you have questions, or need help with anything that is mentioned on this page, please contact us, or feel free to come to our church directly for answers and help. Our desire is for you to have your best future forever.