LIFE TEST
Whether or not it sounds plausible, our life on this earth is really a test. If we pass, we graduate to eternal life with God in heaven. If we fail, hell is our destiny. It's all up to us.
However long a person is given to live, breathe, work, play and exist, what he or she does with their time and abilities while on the planet is preparatory for what lies ahead after death. It is all a test.
When I was in school, classes were a breeze. The teacher taught and we listened. As I got older, I also took notes to study later on, but regardless of my age in school, we had tests. I never looked forward to them.
Sometimes at the start of class a teacher would unexpectedly ask us to take out a sheet of paper and we would have a pop quiz--that's one that we had no prior warning about. The grade didn't count as much as a big exam or the final, but it showed the teacher how we were doing and sometimes provided proof we weren't listening.
Then there were the unit tests at the end of a phase of study, perhaps in math or social studies. We knew those tests were coming and if we were wise, we took good notes during class and studied them to prepare for the exam.
But there was one more kind of exam we called an open-book test. On other tests, some of the kids cheated by peeking into their book or by writing certain notes ahead of time on their hands in black ink. Sometimes they downright looked over at a fellow student's paper to copy answers. They cheated!
The open-book test was much different. We could use our textbook to look up answers. We had our class notes to study. We could use encyclopedias and dictionaries, as well as other reference books, if we needed them. None of them was considered cheating. We took our books home and worked on the open-book test perhaps for several days in addition to attending classes every school day. Finally came the day to turn in our work for the teacher to grade.
On such a test, there were no true or false answers, no fill-in-the-blank questions. They were essay-type answers we had to compose, drawing from all we had read from our resources at hand. The teacher graded us not only on what we wrote, but by what places we had studied and what books or authors we had referenced. It was hard to have a feel for just how well we had done until we saw our grades posted or our papers were given back with the grade in a bold A, B, C, D or F!
When I think of how this earth-life is a test, it seems most like an open-book exam. God gives us life. We're born into different families and neighborhoods, climates and countries, nationalities and ethnicities. Our strengths and talents vary, as well, as does our intelligence. But the test question is really simple: What will you do with Jesus?
It's up to us to use the resources we have at hand to determine how our life is lived either with or without Jesus at the helm. Each of us has some basic tools that are the same for all of us: a conscience within us that warns between right and wrong. Most of us have eyes that see and ears that hear, feet that run and hands that touch. We are the ones who determine how they are used.
Do we look at things that defile us or build us up? Do we listen to things and people that uplift and draw us closer to God or do we prefer and follow degrading sounds and voices? Where do our feet take us? What do our hands hold or feel that glorify God or contaminate us within and without?
Do we prefer truth or lies? Do we eat that which is nourishing or instead do our hands bring food and drink to our mouth that are unhealthy and rob us of strength, energy and clear thinking?
What exactly are we writing on the pages of heaven's books that will one day testify either to our right to enter heaven or condemn us to hell? The Bible says, "Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon HIm while He is near."
Because you are reading this, you are still doing your open-book exam on earth. What have you written thus far? Have you made Jesus Christ the Savior and Lord of your life? Does He direct what you do and are? Has He forgiven and washed away your sins? Are you living to bring praise to Him and His name?
Or, are you spending your precious time wasting the moments on things that will perish when Jesus returns to earth to rule forever? Hell was never intended for humans to suffer, but if that is what you choose by not turning to Christ for forgiveness, you will get an F on your exam and suffer the torments of hell alone. No one else is to blame or responsible for your loss.
So, when your open-book exam is graded, what will the top of the page say? Pass or fail? Saved or lost? Consider your next moves carefully. Use the resources God has given you wisely. Read the Bible. Talk frankly to God in prayer. Seek out people who will guide you correctly as you live your exam's last pages. Your choices will determine where you spend eternity---and that is forever!