Scrooged

No matter how broken we are, we can be made whole again.

‘And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your works; you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is at the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Yet you have still a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. - Revelation 3:1-6

John is telling us to be awake in this life, to know what we are doing and how we should be living, so we will not be surprised by our fate when judgment comes.

If we follow Christ, we shouldn't have to worry about judgment, because we believe we are already saved by his death and resurrection, so we should be able to just live without fear, right?

I think that's the point of staying awake.  We need to stay committed, to know that we have the will to change directions, and so we need to pay attention, to know when we have strayed, or we may find ourselves lost.

So, what if John is correct and some names can be blotted out of the book of Life?  What happens to them?

I like to think that God has a job for each of us when we die, helping Him look after the ones He loves and we love on earth.  If we are not the kind of people who care about others, we won't get that job.  Those of us who are selfish and egotistical, probably won't care too much about others.  We act like Scrooge, before he changed his ways.

And that's a good story for this time of year.  We should remember that at any point in our lives, even when we are old and set in our ways, we can change, and become whole again.

So, if we choose, we can stay alive with God forever.  And we can continue to do good for those we love.

Sounds like a plan to me.

More to come...