Not Good Enough For Heaven

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to Him a child, He put Him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

~Matthew 18:1-2

My grandchildren believe Jesus watches over them and hears everything they say. They have no doubt they will go to Heaven when they die. In fact, my granddaughter, Meagan, told me, “Nana, I don’t care if I die because I know I’ll go to Heaven and be with Jesus.” Her brother, Dax, replied, “Me either because we don’t really die, we just float up to Heaven and live forever.” They are absolutely sure of their final destination. I think it’s this kind of surety that Jesus was talking about in the above verse. My grandchildren’s faith overwhelms me at times because mine sometimes wavers. Sometimes I feel that I’m not doing enough to be in Christ’s presence. I’m not reading the Bible enough, I’m not praying long enough, I’m not watching enough Christian shows on TV… I am not good enough for Heaven.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasur-able riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:4-10).”

Being “good enough” is something we invented, not God. My grand-daughter had done something her mother disapproved of, and her mother said, “Meagan, I always love you, but I don’t like it when you act like that.” Meagan looked at her mother and replied, “Jesus loves me no matter how I act. Mommy, you should be more like Jesus.” The wisdom in that sentence was far beyond Meagan’s four years of life but I couldn’t have said it better myself. Jesus loves us no matter what. We are His work-manship, created by Him and for Him. We cannot earn God’s love because we already have it. What we must do is accept that love the way a child does—without doubt, without wavering, without fear. Salvation is a gift from God and gifts are given freely. All we have to do is accept it.

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor princi-palities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).”

Read Matthew 21-25; Weekend Reading Matthew 26-28

© 2018 Marie McGaha