Preparation for Heaven, May 8

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? 1 Corinthians 4:7.TDG 137.1

It is that man may obtain the life that measures with the life of God that the Lord breaks up his worldly ambitious projects, which, if permitted to engross the mind, would unfit him for the future world.TDG 137.2

God is testing every one of us. He entrusts us with talents, to see whether we will be thoroughly unselfish in the use we make of them. He tells us plainly, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?” (verse 12).TDG 137.3

Let us remember that we are to be tried by the laws of Christ's kingdom. We are not our own to do with ourselves as we please. We have been bought with a price, and the laws of Christ's kingdom, the ten holy precepts, present the standard that we are to reach. God is jealous of His law. He tests every man, to see whether he will obey or not.TDG 137.4

Man sinned, and death is the penalty of sin. Christ bore the penalty, and secured for man a period of probation. In this time of probation we are now living. We have been given an opportunity to prove ourselves of value in the sight of Him who gave His only begotten Son that we should not perish, but have everlasting life.TDG 137.5

One is our Master, even Christ. We are to remember that we are His blood-bought heritage. God's will is to become our will. Physical, mental, and spiritual gifts have been placed in our possession. In the Bible, God's will is plainly made known. God expects every man to use his gifts in a way that will give him an increased knowledge of the things of God, and will enable him to make improvement, to become more and more refined, ennobled, and purified.TDG 137.6

In this world men and women are to fit themselves to take their place among the nobility of heaven. In this world they are to prepare for translation into the courts above. Those who take up this work as the Bible directs, will, through the grace of Christ, become examples of what all must be who enter in through the gates into the city.—Letter 80, May 8, 1903, to Dr. J. H. Kellogg.TDG 137.7