Eternal Report Cards

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

John 1:12

As I mentioned earlier, when I was teaching school, every year I wanted to quit the day I had to hand out report cards. Of course, I knew that evaluation was important, but marking in little black boxes on a report card could never show some of the special, delightful qualities of each child! Even though I filled up the space allotted for handwritten comments, I know everyone considered an A as “very good,” and most girls, more so than boys, thought a C was very bad. Ds and Fs were much worse news for both boys and girls!

Grades really mattered to the children, thus they mattered to me. Although I was careful in my evaluations, I constantly wondered how to keep “my children” from thinking a report card was the total evaluation of them as a person. I longed for them to know their value was based on how much God loved them. More than anything, in my heart I wanted them to grasp God’s acceptance of them. Knowing Jesus Christ means we receive an A+ on our eternal report card!

Who is our teacher? Our teacher is God Almighty, and His learning curve takes into account our unique strengths and weaknesses. He knows the ideal teaching strategy for each of His children. His methods are encouraging; He adapts them according to His purpose for us.

As students of our Savior, we are called to study His Word and follow His curriculum. This discipline becomes a joy because we learn to love and respect God so much as we experience what a wonderful, caring teacher He is. And someday when He deems the timing is right, we will graduate to heaven forever.

Wow! I just encouraged myself writing this and reminding myself what is true!

If you have given your life to Christ (you can do that right now if you haven’t—just tell Him), celebrate your A+ in Jesus and get excited about what He has in store for you.