You get to choose. You are allowed to decide just how much you are going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this life.
I believe countless people when they arrive in heaven are not going to have a clue as to what they are going to be doing not only there, but throughout all eternity. If you are not praising Him here, what are your plans for there, if you are not obedient here to the will and Word of God in this life, how do you plan on being obedient there?
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
Instantaneous praise? Obedience? A desire to automatically be pleasing in His eyes then, but not now?
If there is one specific item that could describe the apostacy, it is easy grace, saved, perhaps, but not a servant, living a different life, but not one for the glory of God. As it has been said by a man much wiser than myself, they desire the crown, but not the cross, they want to shine like the stars of heaven, but do not want to experience the sacrifice of self.
I can be content with no less than the knowledge that I am useful, as much as any man can be, to the Kingdom of God here, not only the knowledge that I will be changed then. To persuade some to serve as the Word of God says we are to serve is almost an impossibility, they are far too consumed with this world and their place in it, far too much time is spent on the pursuits of this life, and nearly none on the one to come. That easy grace makes this possible for them, simply believe you are saved, try to live the best life you can, and wait to go to heaven.
I have asked this question before, and it is worth repeating here. Do you anticipate your day of accounting, (Romans 14:12) or do you view it with anxiety, even fear?
Nearly all who adhere to a works-based religion will answer in the latter, for they have much trepidation of that moment, did they perform enough good works, will those good deeds outweigh the bad ones, am I good enough to go to heaven? The answer of course is no, no one ever has been, and if that is the way of your thoughts, repentance would be in order, for your faith is not in Jesus Christ as the only means for your salvation, but in a mixture of His sacrifice on the cross and some work of your own. By performing those supposed necessary deeds, these individuals epitomize that easy grace.
“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36) Those who think as such will not be leaving at the moment of the rapture, for they have not found Christ as sufficient for the salvation of their souls but lacking in some way that they must complete by some deed or continuation of works for their admittance into the Kingdom of God.
Easy grace counts the cross of Christ as insufficient for salvation, or at best as a lite thing, something that only needs to be recognized and accepted, not as the pinnacle moment of all time, and of a man’s heart.
Can you watch as they drive the nails through His hands, or do you turn your head, tears beginning to flow down your face? Do you hate those that hate His name (Psalm 139:21) or is it just as easy for you to hold a conversation with the wicked as with those you congregate with on Sunday morning? Are you the same person in church as you are out on the street in everyday life?
Easy grace goes to the cross, sees the atoning blood dripping from it, says “Thank you,” and then heads back out into the world.
If your heart is broken at that sight, if your life has not been turned from the world and self-desires, if Philippians 1:21 does not describe you, then you are living in an easy grace, and there is a very real chance that when you open your eyes there after you close them for the last time here, you will not be where you thought you were going.