thoughts and ruminations while in exile (1 Pet. 2:11)

Last night I was deeply troubled. I was watching a T.V. show about Oprah Winfrey's life and accomplishments. As the show came to a close, I began to have an unceasing grief in my heart. I kept thinking to myself, "I'm sure many people look at Oprah and see how many "good deeds" she has done for people, and belive, on that basis, that she will go to heaven." What a terrible mistake!! After the show I began to write some thoughts down in my journal. I share them with you and desire your feedback:

I'm sure many think Oprah has it made. Undoubtedly many think Oprah will make it to heaven because of all the good she has done. Notice how that is worded: Because of all she has DONE. Those who would believe this demonstrate the fact that human beings are wired for law. They actually think they can earn God's favor. What audacity!

All her good deeds are as a filthy rag (Is. 64:6). "Whatever is not from faith is sin," Paul says (Rom. 14:23). Oprah's life has not been lived for the glory of the Triune God. Sadly, Oprah has wasted her life! She may have helped many people experience temporary relief, but she has done nothing of eternal significance to lead persons to complete restoration, namely, to trust and enjoy God. She has not helped people glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

What a terrible thing it is to waste a life! Many of us may find it difficult to feel bad for someone who is worth more than 2 billion dollars. My prayer is that Oprah would see the hopelessness of her situation. I pray she would see that she cannot earn her way to heaven. I pray she would see that her good deeds are a filthy rag before God; that her religious credits do not earn God's favor and that He is not impressed. I pray she would cast herself on the mercy of God and receive His perfect righteousness.

Ponder these thoughts with me:

"Before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must not only be troubled for the sins of your life, the sin of your nature, but likewise the sins of your best duties and performances. . . . You must be brought to see that God may damn you for the best prayer you ever put up; you must be brought to see that all your duties, all your righteousness, as the prophet elegantly expresses it, put them all together, are so far from recommending you to God, are so far from being any inducements to God to have mercy on your poor soul, that He will see them to be filthy rags, a menstrual cloth that God hates . . . " -- George Whitefield

"We cannot, by our best works, merit pardon of sin, or eternal life, at the hand of God, because of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit, nor satisfy the debt of our former sins; but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants: and because, as they are good, they proceed from his Spirit; and as they are wrought by us, they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment" (Westminster Confession Ch. XVI. V).

"Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to themselves and others; yet, because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word; nor a right end, the glory of God; they are therefore sinful and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God. And yet their neglect of them is more sinful, and displeasing to God" (Westminster Confession, Ch. XVI. VII).

"The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. . . . Every good work should be a revelation of the glory of God. What makes the good deed an act of love is not the raw act, but the passion and the sacrifice to make God himself known as glorious. . . . If you don't point people to God for everlasting joy, you don't love. You wast your life" --John Piper

So what is our hope? Question 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks, "What is your only comfort in life and death? The answer contains some of the most beautiful words I have ever read. Please read carefully:

Answer: That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed all things work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.