The New Eve - Lewis Robert [52]
Everything will be clear in this moment of infallible evaluation. Everything you did in your earthly life—as God's feminine image bearer—will be taken into account by the God who never forgets. For your acts of courageous faith and obedience, you will receive a reward that will awe and humble you (1 Cor. 3:10–14). For faithlessness and worldly compromise, your loss of reward will hurt (v. 15).
God will also give you new responsibilities and new treasures in heaven. Exactly what those are will be based on how well you followed Christ and God's Word while on earth (Matt. 19:27–30; 25:14–29). This is the clear teaching of Scripture (Matt. 6:20; Luke 12:33; 1 Tim. 6:18–19). For sure you are in heaven by the grace of God alone (Eph. 2:8–9). But it is equally true that your experience and standing in heaven will be shaped by the kind of life you lived while on earth.
So choose wisely before you reach this final season of life. Live a reward-winning lifestyle so that you can walk away from your coming appointment with God with His praise and commendation ringing in your ears (Matt. 25:21) as you step into a heavenly life of unimaginable rewards. No, you won't live a perfect life on earth. No one does that. You will know failure, compromise, and shame at times. But cling to faith. Repent from periodic bouts with unbelief and worldliness. And when you finish this life, finish as one who trusted God and was blessed by Him. Live this kind of life—the life of a New Eve—and you'll find that one of God's greatest delights is in giving you and others eternal rewards in heaven.
Every godly woman will find the same reality as she enters this final, glorious season of life. Faith pays off. Not only did faith reward her with the best of an earthly life (which she now fully understands), but it has now rewarded her with a rich heavenly life too. This promise is what every New Eve should hold on to and treasure in her heart.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Ten seasons of a woman's life. A wise woman will adopt this big-picture perspective as a general guide. From it she arms herself with the opportunity to make smart lifestyle choices that best fit and bless her changing seasons of life. Will that be you?
9
Choosing to Live with Purpose
These final words conclude the life of Abraham: “Abraham breathed his last and died, … an old man and satisfied with life” (Gen. 25:8).
What a way to go. This capstone statement reveals a life rewarded with a deep sense of personal fulfillment and gratification. It also suggests a life with few regrets. In short, life worked for Abraham. It came together with a wow rather than a whimper and paid rich dividends. Is there a woman or man alive today who wouldn't want a life like this? I don't think so. But the question is, What's the secret to living such a satisfied life?
Mary Crawford thought she knew. She was single, beautiful, and well versed in all the social graces. She dined with admirals, traded banter with barons, and flitted across ballroom floors under the watchful eyes of England's most eligible bachelors.
Edmund Bertram was one of those bachelors. He was widely known for his exceptional character and steady composure, but he couldn't disguise his interest in Mary. When Mary signaled for Edmund to make his case, he began plying her with questions. When the discussion turned to the root of happiness, Mary said with stark frankness, “A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” Edmund came from wealth, so Mary's reply played to his strong suit, right?