Next week my husband and I will celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary. It seems like we’ve been planning this trip for a year. As I prepare for our departure, my list includes, laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator, getting the trash gathered up and out to the curb, an of course packing. As I anticipate our trip, I was thinking this morning, what preparations are we making for our eternal destination?

It strikes me that many of us live our entire lives without a thought to where or how we will spend eternity. Eternity is forever, and so much more important than a 4 nights stay at a rented VRBO. The bible talks a lot about preparations. Jesus told us in the gospel of John, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” If our Father God and Jesus Christ Himself are preparing for our arrival into heaven, what should we be doing, to prepare?

We don’t have to do laundry or pack. I am always worried that I will forget something, and get to our destination without something important. We took our son on a cruise after he graduated from high school and I had a panic attack in a McDonald’s parking lot at 1am, because I was sure I hadn’t brought our tickets for the cruise. I couldn’t be calmed until I had dug through our bags and reassured myself that our tickets were safe and sound. Isn’t it wonderful to know that we don’t have that burden in Christ? When we place our faith in Him, our work is over. We won’t get to the gates of heaven just to find out that we hadn’t done enough, and our eternity will be spent without Him. However, because we know that our salvation is secure in His sacrifice on the cross, that doesn’t mean we can prop up our feet and coast through life.

God wants us, not to work for our salvation, but to work to bring others to Him as well. Our lives are to reflect His great love and grace. If we go through life with a carefree attitude, not concerned with the needs or feelings of others, how are we building the kingdom of God? In the book of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul admonished the believers in Corinth because they continued to live according to the ways of the world. Since they felt secure in their faith, they had not turned from their sin and were living their lives in arrogance and pride. We are to be transformed by God so that we do not resemble our old ways. When the world sees us, they should see Christ and not someone living one way and preaching another. Our preparations for our eternity with God, begins first by examining our lives and repenting of our sins.

As we go through this life, we do not know when God will call us home. If we did, how differently would we prepare? Yet, we do not need to lay out our suitcase and worry about what to pack. Instead we should be laying out our heart to our Father so that through the power of His Holy Spirit, our lives will be transformed. Instead of focusing on what we may leave behind, let us focus on who and how we can show this dark and fallen world, the truth of God’s great love, grace, and forgiveness. Let us prepare with anticipation, for this is the most important trip we will ever take!