I have a dear friend who used to say to me, "Welcome to the real world!"  Now, he said this whenever times of trial and tribulation would arise, and he made a good point.  So often when someone gets saved, they think they are entering into a life of ease and comfort.  Oh, this just isn't so!  If anything, the reverse of that is most often true.  Because all of a sudden, they run into friends who get upset because they have lost all desire to do the things they used to do.  They don't want to go to parties where there is alcohol served, they don't want to go to the racetrack, they just don't want to do anything that would displease the Lord.  And in return, they may find they are losing their old friends, they may find that they're life has taken on some major changes. 

But that's okay!  Yes, when we accept Jesus as our Saviour, He creates in us a new heart, and we become "born again."  We would much rather fellowship at a church dinner that hang with our "old" friends in a bar.  We would much rather study the Bible, gleaning all that we can from it, than sit in the movie house watching the latest flick.  We would rather find a meaningful relationship that go out with just anyone who's popular at the moment. 

And then there are the times when the enemy steps in.  Oh, yes, calamities happen, tragedies happen, our family has one crisis after another--these things do, and will, happen to the Christian more, it seems, than to the unbeliever.  Why is this?  Well, it's during these times--these hard times--that we have to put our trust in God and allow our faith to work.  It's during these times that we come to realize that we just cannot do this alone.  No, we have to have Jesus walking with us, leading us and guiding us through His Word, for us to make it from one moment to the next.  It's during these times that we realize that we are just flesh and blood, and we are weak.  We cannot live life without Him!  And as we learn to lean on Him, casting off our own thoughts, our own flesh, we become more like Him--more Christ-like.  And as we become more Christ-like, we become more perfected in our spirit, and draw closer to Him.

Some day, we will no longer be on this earth.  No, we will no longer live in this earthly flesh we are in now.  We will leave this mortal body, and our soul will be judged.  We will answer for anything, and everything, we have done in this time we have had on earth.  Every wrong thought, every wrong deed, every act of omission, every foul word, will be answered and accounted for.  We will not have our pastor, or our friends, or our parents, or our siblings, standing there with us.  Just ourself facing God.  That's all. 

Now, we have a choice.  We can choose to accept Jesus as our Saviour while we're alive and living on this earth and in these mortal bodies, and if so, we will have an advocate with the Father.  When we allow His precious blood to cleanse us, Jesus becomes our Advocate both now, and also at the time of Judgement.  Or, we can choose to ignore the knock at our heart's door now, on this earth, and we will have no Advocate during the time of Judgement.  Jesus will say, "I know you not."  And that's that--eternal death and separation forever. 

We all have to make that choice.  Now, while we are living and breathing in these fleshly bodies on earth.  We can't make that decision after we die, and no one else can make it for us.  It's personal--just you, and Jesus.  Will you hear His knock at the door of your heart and allow Him to come in and be your Saviour this day?  None of us knows when we will die.  Perhaps in the next hour, or day, or month, or year, or decade.  We just don't know.  He's waiting for you to open your mouth and accept Him as your personal Saviour at this moment--won't you accept Him now?

Once you accept Jesus as your Lord, allow Him to strengthen you with His Holy Spirit.  Allow Him to guide you and lead you in the paths of righteousness.  And allow Him to walk with you through those times of trial that will come.  For as we walk through them, and we become more Christ-like, we are being prepared for later times.  We will have opportunities to witness and lead others to know Jesus as their own personal Saviour, we will have opportunities to encourage and bring comfort to someone else going through a crisis, we will have the opportunity to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned.  We will have the opportunity to allow the Lord to use our hands as His own here on earth.  Blessing others and being a blessing to all who know us.  This is what we are all called to do. 

And when this life is over, and we've been judged by God, and our name has been found written in the Book of Life because of our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord, we will then have one final opportunity--to live with Him forever.  Loving Him praising Him, worshipping Him--never knowing sorrow, never having trials and tribulations, never again shedding a tear.  For we will spend eternity with Him, and that is beyond the most glorious eternity any of us can ever begin to imagine.