Moses and David are two of the individuals in the Scriptures whose lives we are told of from beginning to end, from a very young age until the moment of their death, the Lord felt it was necessary for us to see this. We see only the most minor glimpses of our Lord’s life in His youth, unless I have forgotten something, we know little of King Solomon until he ascends the throne, of any of the twelve that Christ called to walk with Him up until that time, the majority of the lives of those we read about in the Scriptures is not recorded for us.
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Rev. 20:12)
In heaven is the only place where the events of your life that mattered are recorded, some have called it the book of your conscience, of your heart, and I believe it is here where we will find just how much of this life we have attempted to live for the glory of God is recorded, how much we submitted to His will. I would highly suggest not attempting to compare your life with Moses or David in this regard, and it would be foolish to try to walk beside the Lord Jesus, as it were, in this respect.
There are men of God whose names many have forgotten or never heard of who devoted the entirety of their lives in submission to the will of the Father, millions of them, and those who were indeed saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who were unprofitable in this life. You need not concern yourself with them, save for their godly examples, your concern should be on you.
Now, that does not mean that your life in Christ should revolve around you and only a continued growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, that would be contrary to what the Scriptures teach, we are to love one another, in every aspect of the word, not become self-centered, but Christ-centered toward all we meet for the glory of God. But it does mean that you should be paying strict attention every moment of each day to the life that you say you have given to God. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8)
The first two are spelled out for us to see quite clearly, love mercy and do justly, the last, not so much. How do we walk humbly with the Almighty? In reverence and awe, in servitude and fear.
If the Lord did not call you in your youth, then from the age that He did is where the accounts in that book begin. “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:5) Jeremiah was called before he took his first breath, as was John the Baptist and others, for some of us it was much later in life, and we enjoyed, for the Scriptures speak the truth, the momentary pleasures of the seasons of sin. Now we despise them, they are a burden, and this too is recorded in that book. But I offer this small piece of truth to you, time served in the presence of the Lord does not add pages to your book, many men and women of God were called later in life and life ended shortly after that whose book has many more pages of fruitful works for the Kingdom than those who came to the Lord at a young age and lived a long life.
Time served is not always time served well.
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31) The one whose book in heaven is long and filled with actions, words and deeds is not trying to fill that book up, he is not expecting rewards, he is being faithful in submitting to the will of God, solely for His glory. He walks humbly with the Lord his God.
