The Coming Court Appearance

I have had some well-meaning believers tell me about the "7 Thrones of Judgement" or some other theological perspective, and typically in it, we bypass judgement or it is somehow different for us.  Frankly I doubt it.  I see different descriptions of judgement, but I suppose them to be different descriptions of the same thing.  I do believe that once judgement has been completed, that the irony of existence will be this book in which are the names of those who have had faith in Jesus.  The deeds will be weighed, but only those whose names are in the book will be found in heaven.  I call this an irony because the first part is very much like what other religious views hold.  Be good and God will pay attention to your deeds.  But the result is extremely different.  There will be no "scale" to weigh the heart, no balance to determine if good outweighed bad in my life, and no accountant to inventory my store of actions to find a final value of goods.  Instead, it will be like court today.  We will be either guilty of breaking God's law or not (I'm guessing guilty), and then, when the punishment is meted out, suddenly this separation between sheep and goats takes place, the wheat from weeds, or whatever.  It will be the roll call from the book which sets apart those who will be getting into Heaven, not their guilt or innocence before God (since we are all guilty).  One court appearance.

I believe that I mentioned before that in that court appearance it is rigged my way.  My defense attorney is the Son of the Judge, and my Counsel has already taken the punishment I have worked so hard to obtain on Himself.  So, yes, I'm guilty, but, no, I don't receive punishment, I receive admittance to Heaven.  I win, and that feels so great.  But there is still the court appearance.  My failure and guilt will still be reviewed in court, and the accuser of humanity will still have his go at me.  I will have my day in court, and it will end well, but be gruelling to endure while to goes on.

The reality I must face each day is that what everyone I work around, live around, sit around, and breathe around will some day get a front-row seat to see exactly what I was thinking while around them.  That day in court will be the end of secrets, of lies, of pretense, of every prop, rotten or whole, I have used to appear other than I am.  The magic show of slight-of-hand, mirrors, misdirection, and illusion will be over.  I will finally appear just as I am to the world in which I lived.  I guess, but do not know, that this audience will also include those around this globe who never knew me, but were somehow affected by what I did or failed to do on their behalf, whether pray, or contribute cash, or go to them as I was sent by my Master.  Yes, I fully expect to be ashamed on that day of what will finally be known about me.  My hope is that, after the first couple of hours of reviewing my failures, the audience will loose interest and break out their ethereal smart phones, hand-held games, or whatever and stop listening to my shameful list of deeds.  Not much chance of that, but still, I can hope. 

So, how about today?  Sure, I have years of failures to fill the pages of court documents for hours, days, probably weeks on end.  But will I continue to fill those sheets today?  Oh, probably.  But perhaps I can slow down the writers cramp of whichever angel was tasked with recording todays rebellious acts.  Perhaps, today, this servant of the Most High God will have less to record than yesterday.  What if I were more obedient, less rebellious, and listened to my Master throughout the day?  There would be one happier recorder of deeds (what a job, how depressing).  Today, I will again seek that respite in the afternoon to appear before the throne of my Master, and worship Him, to reset my attitude, and continue through the remainder of my day with Him in the front of my mind, not the back part.  Today I will try and make less work for the heavenly court reporter tasked with my day.  But I will also keep in mind the gratitude for the assurrance that all my failures cannot keep me from what my Master has prepared for me in Heaven.  That's a huge relief.  It takes a lot of the pressure off trying to be perfect.  But I will still make the attempt.  Someone will be pleased by that I'm sure.