Motives Matter

Recently I saw the question, would you live differently if you knew there was no resurrection. There are many different ways to answer that question, even to interpret it. My immediate reaction to it though was what is my motive for living right. Our motive for living for the Lord has to be more than hope for a reward or fear of punishment if we don't. I have preached my share of sermons on hell, and when the Lord leads, I will continue to do so. However, I fear that often-times our motives for right living are wrong. Yes, there is a reward for Christians and yes, there is a punishment for those that reject Christ; however, our motivation to live for the Lord should come from a sense of gratitude for what He has done for us. Sometimes we need to look back and remember were He brought us from. Paul said there but for the grace of God, go I. Another time, after listing a group of people that won't make it to heaven, he said, but such were some of you. So we need to decide to live for Him because of where He has brought us from. I will live for Him because He died for me.