by Pastor John Kim

To the LBC family and friends,

Jonathan Edwards Resolution #50
Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. (July 5, 1723)

Jonathan Edwards did not espouse the “Your Best Life Now” kind of mentality. He would not have been popular in today’s television circuit as he consistently focused on the reality of heaven. To Edwards, heaven was not just an ideal or hopeful wish. The reality of stepping into eternity was constantly on his mind because the reality of death was not something he feared, but simply saw as a step into the future world.

This past week I found out a friend from college passed away. He was a really nice guy, the Eugene Yang kind of nice. A real servant heart and someone who was always encouraging. He was a few years older than me. He was bike-riding with some co-workers and then he simply died.

You never think that it will be you, yet it is still a bit disconcerting when death strikes close to you through a friend or family member. It kind of sobers you to realize that maybe my time will come sooner than I had planned, which is usually a long time from now.

If in fact we could die at any moment, it should motivate us to do our best and what is most prudent in light of the future world because we will face our Creator, our Lord and Savior and we will have to give an account for how we lived the life that He gave to us. In having saved us, Christ not only saved us from a life of sin but He saved us to a life that would glorify Him.

I have often thought what I might be doing if Christ came or if I died. I surely would hope that I was not doing something sinful. That would not be the best and most prudent way to enter into heaven. Even if I do know that my sins have been forgiven, it still would not be worthy of the grace and mercy that I have been shown. If anything, Romans 12:1-2 come into play as it would call me to offer my best as a living sacrifice and would call me to be prudent by not being conformed to this world and instead be transformed by the renewing of my mind by the Word of God, which is where I will find the will of God, which would provide for the wisdom that I need to live.

Do you seek the best and most prudent way each day? Or do you settle for something less? Do you justify yourself in thinking that no one can be that dedicated to Jesus all the time? We think that we should be allowed a break from the discipline of godliness, from the pursuit of holiness. But do you realize how precious our time is? Do you realize that this might be your last day? If it were, could you say as Jonathan Edwards had resolved that he had pursued the best and most prudent way before he went to heaven?

I would think that Edwards would look at you if he were alive today and ask if you truly found Jesus beautiful, wonderful, and that His glory overwhelms you. I think he would ask you if you have really taken time to be enraptured by the heavenly wisdom of God’s Word that could not be exhausted in a life time. I think he would challenge you to see if you really love Jesus with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Or are you just a pretender? Are you someone who is a dabbler? Are your affections true and genuine before God? Or are you a faker?

Just because we are for the most part young doesn’t mean that we are immune to death. Death will come to all and we must all be prepared. Let us take time as we prepare for the summer months to not let down and have an excuse to be a lazy bum but instead seek to be our best for Christ and to live in God-honoring prudence and wisdom till the day we meet our Savior.

In His grace,
Pastor John