Works that Matter

Ever wasted your time doing something you knew wasn’t going to last?

Sadly, I do it far too often. There have been many times when I scrolled through the comment section of an article and either spent time trying to correct people’s assertions or just spent time enjoying the chaos that often ensues when a controversial topic was discussed.

Guess what? I wasted time doing something I can never get back and more importantly I didn’t just waste my time. I wasted God’s time.

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 HCSB

To be clear we are saved by grace therefore your works cannot affect your salvation.

However, Jesus’s sacrifice at the cross so the Holy Spirit could dwell within us wasn’t just for us to go to Heaven. It was to do the will of the Father while we are here on Earth,  or more simply,  good works.

So you might ask what exactly am I supposed to be doing with my time?

The good works referred to in Ephesians 2:10 is about spreading the Kingdom of God everywhere we go.

When you speak kindly to the customer service representative acting rudely, hold the door for a stranger, or show your co-worker grace when they make a mistake that you have to fix those are eternal works that matter.

For we must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or worthless.  2 Corinthians 5:10 HCSB

So how can you make sure the works are the right ones?

Take a sheet of paper. Make 2 columns. Label one column temporal and the other column eternal.

Start making a list of things like disaster relief, helping a neighbor change a tire, or paying for a strangers meal and put those in the eternal column.

Put scrolling your ex’s facebook profile, people watching, and arguing about which team is going to win the championship in the temporal column.

Keep in mind the goal of this list isn’t to shame you into only doing eternal works but to take an inventory of what we are spending our time doing and understand that we will be held accountable for all of our works.

But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. Matthew 6:20 HCSB

Grace and Peace!