The Books

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.  

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were open; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 

“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15 

At the judgment, the Books are opened.  Although no one is clear what the books will be like, to me it seems  

• there is a set of books or chapters in a book that represent every person who has ever lived -- where all our deeds are listed as either good or evil -- that God will review. 

• The Book of Life is just one volume where only the names of those who have put their trust in Christ to save them are listed.   

Every one of us will have our deeds reviewed, but only those who have trusted in Jesus to graciously forgive their sins will be saved for eternity.  

Take care with love, especially His, Darlene (who still prays for you daily).  If you would like to read more about the book of Revelation, you might want to order Rational Read of Revelation (a collection of articles from previous WeakDay Devotions).