The Final Exam of Life

Being a student, I have become somewhat familiar with the practices of academics. Each class consists of instruction and assignments designed to test one's understanding and application of that instruction. There are usually several small assignments, perhaps a few medium-sized assignments or mid-terms, and then one large assignment at the end of the term. Each of these assignments are worth a portion of the students' grades, with the largest assignments being worth the largest percent of the students' grades. As a student, I learned that, while the final assignment is the most important one, that doesn't mean that one can safely neglect the smaller assignments. Every assignment contributes to one's final grade, which itself is an average of how well one did on each assignment, with some assignments weighted to have a greater influence than others.

The Final Judgement isn't quite like that. While each of the many tests of life are important, I don't think they'll all affect our "final grades." God doesn't judge us on a basis of how much good we did weighed against how much evil we did. Instead, our final grades are largely determined by how we do on the final exam. I believe that, at the Final Judgement, God will be more interested in testing what sorts of people we are than asking what sorts of things we did. Naturally, what we do is a reflection of who we are, but God's main concern is what sorts of people we ultimately become, not how badly or how frequently we stumble on our way to becoming that way.

For instance, one could fail miserably at the first several tests of life, but as long as one eventually learns from those failures and becomes a better person, I don't think those early failures will be held against them. Alternatively, if one is raised in the light and walks in it for a while, but then turns against it, I'm not sure how much that early righteousness will help them. God seems far more interested in who we become than who we were.

So, while there are several tests and quizzes building up to the Final Exam, that Exam is the part that's worth the vast majority of our "final grade." That's why it's important to use the smaller tests to help us prepare for the Final Exam. Let's use our smaller tests to help us figure out how we're doing in this class and what we need to do or not do to perform well in the Final Exam. We get daily indications of what we're doing well or poorly, but none of that will ultimately affect our grades. In the end, we will be judged not by how we did during our lives but by how well we turned out by the end of it.