It comes to this: we can live for earth or for heaven, for time or for eternity, for now or forever. One day every one of us will stand before Jesus Christ to be judged. If you have not made him your Savior and Lord, your eternity will be determined solely by your works. And unless you are sinless and perfect, you will be assigned a permanent place in hell. If you are his, you will spend eternity with him in his paradise.

But you are not done. Your works will then be judged, your "fruit" inspected. Unconfessed sin will be purged. Faithful service, witness, and obedience will be rewarded for eternity. Wherever and whenever Jesus was Lord, the One you served with unconditional courage and devotion, he was watching. And waiting to reward you. He's watching now, this moment.

Tenor Luciano Pavarotti said that his father, a baker, introduced him to music and urged him to work hard to develop his voice. A professional tenor in his hometown of Modena, Italy, took him as a pupil. He also enrolled in a teachers college. After graduation, he asked his father, "Shall I be a teacher or a singer?" Luciano," his father replied, "if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair."

Pavarotti adds, "I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book—whatever we choose—we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair."

Well?