“Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.” (Romans 14:12 NLT)
If I’m being gut-honest, personal accounting day is not a day I’m looking forward to. I have already spent lots of time surveying my story for failures. There are plenty. I don’t suppose that this process of life-review will be pleasant; laying the days and decisions out on the table as hard evidence and awaiting the Holy God’s feedback. Yet, because of my relationship with Jesus, I trust my myriad of mistakes will still be met with grace, as they have been here on earth.
That being said, it’s good to live today with accounting day in mind; quite convinced that one day we’ll give an explanation for these twenty-four hours. It’s good to recall this as we consider others, as we interact with flesh and blood in a fallen world. Some day we’re all going to stand before God and attempt to sputter an answer for our actions.
How can we prepare for accounting day?
We practice confession now. We can go ahead and get used to baring our souls, because God sees it anyway. We can spend time searching our story for sin and then repent quickly and thoroughly upon discovery.
We live with the end in mind. Think, speak and act knowing full well that it’s all going on record. Review the record often and make adjustments as needed.
Lastly, we offer grace to others as we have ongoing need of it ourselves.
“So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide to live in a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.” (Romans 14:13 NLT)
If God gives grace, so can we. If His forgiveness is big enough to cover our transgressions, it’s big enough to cover those that sin against us. We can walk in the way of grace by the power of His Holy Spirit and the gratitude of a pardoned person.
Grace doesn’t mean we stop sharing truth. No, God’s word is quite clear on the Great Commission. It means we stick to the big, obvious things in scripture and let the Holy Spirit sort out the lesser, open-handed issues. (This is what Romans 14 is all about.) It means that at the end of the day, we remain humble, ever-acknowledging our own tendency toward trespass.
Lord, help us live blameless in a world dead set on offense. Make the main issues of the gospel clear to us. Let the lesser preferences fall by the wayside. May we live out Your truth, seasoned with grace, ever aware of the approach of our own accounting day. Amen.