Looking For A Better Place
We spend most of our life on a journey. Sometimes this journey takes us many places, and sometimes we never travel too far from where we began. I am sure that we all can remember our past moves and most of the time we convinced ourselves that it was for the better. Many people look for a better place by checking out the schools or the proximity to stores and events.
But let us take a moment to look at a better place. That better place is heaven. Heaven is where I want to go, and I am sure that you want to go there also. Although it has been promised to you and me, we also understand that there are rules, regulations, and requirements for us to enter that better place. Many people are perplexed by the "free" aspect of what is promised. If something is free, why do you need to pay for it. Let's get this straightened out for now. Salvation is the result of the free gift of God. Man cannot buy it or purchase it. Man can do nothing of himself to acquire salvation. Now God said He would give this grace freely IF we complied with the instructions of God.
Nothing is truly free. Try walking out the store with a sale item without paying for it. Oh, your reason is that you are walking out with the free one, but they tell you that you must buy one in order to get one free. You think to yourself that this is not really free. Perhaps you are not paying full price, but if the item cost more than zero pennies, it is not free. Now, lets get back to our spiritual application of the better place. What we have in this world is sorrow, pain, heartache, and misery. Oh we do have some brief moments of happiness, and some are lucky to have a lot of moments of happiness. But no matter what blessings you may think you have here, there is a better place. This better place is described in Revelation 21. This is the place whose builder is God, and we can join Abraham in looking for this special city. This is the place prepared for the saints of God.
We often speak of the dead as being in a better place. This is because in this world we have pain and sorrow. The truth of the matter is that most people will not be in a better place. Hell can never be described as better than anywhere else. So we need to focus our efforts to go to a better place. The only way to go there is to seek it with your whole heart.
We can have freedom, but we must be cautious to not abuse our freedom by doing things we are not supposed to do. Serve the Lord in all you do, and you will be invited to enter the better place on judgment day.
By Carey Scott

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