"It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart." (Ecclesiastes 7:2 KJV)
"Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all of this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves of righteous living so that you will become holy. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:19-23 NLT)
Okay then: having the hope of heaven, is something that requires a result that is bigger and greater than the actions and the habits that we might not like but seem to still be dealing with. We are still human beings that have a sinful nature; we just have been set free from being a slave of that nature, and now can practice being slaves of righteousness.
There is so much more that is felt doing what is right, than doing wrong; depending upon what it is that you want to become. If you want to become a follower of Christ, then the things you do that are right will give you encouragement and make following Christ something that gives you joy and strength; but doing wrong, will cause you to feel ashamed and your joy will fade.
However, if you are not all that interested in becoming a follow of Christ, but only want what He has to offer, without becoming a slave of righteousness; then that which you do wrong really won't hurt so much; but joy and peace will not be as secure as they could be.
I remember hearing a message from Pastor Jon, regarding what heaven might be like. He illustrated the outer court and the inner court, as if one place was for those that followed the Lord, while the other was for those that barely got by, just holding unto salvation. He also shared about those in the outer court were like banging on pots and pans, as if they were really missing out on something special.
My guess is that we will be where we fit in: if you served yourself here in this life, you will be serving others in heaven; but if you served others in this life, you will be serving with the Lord in heaven. It is all about what you want to be; but being a slave to God, makes living through this life so much easier!
If you think about it, the things you do for yourself really don't bring great satisfaction, only temporary pleasure that will soon fade away; but the things you do for the Lord are eternal, bringing us to a place that shows us satisfaction and a glimpse of hope that will never fade...
""Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. But I warn you - unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!"" (Matthew 5:12-20 NLT)
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