We are called to follow Christ, and to glorify Him. The Apostle Peter, in speaking of this blessed pathway, enumerates in his second epistle the moral qualities which should characterize us (2 Pet. 1:5-7). And in the end of verse 10 he adds, "If ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." One may compare the entrance into the glory of the kingdom of our Lord, of the Christian who practices these things, to a fine vessel entering the home harbor after a long voyage, deeply laden with gold and precious stones. How different to one who, though saved by faith, pursues a pathway of negligence, to find at the end of his career, though he himself is preserved in mercy by the grace of God, his cargo (so to speak) is valueless and only fit to be burned (1 Cor. 3:15). May the gracious Lord exercise every soul who is satisfied with the fatness of His house, that he may be found practicing these things, so blessedly exhibited to perfection in the pathway of Christ Himself, while he looks for the accomplishment in the eternal future of the exceeding great and precious promises of God.
But do not be surprised, if you serve the Lord and pursue such a pathway, should you meet in some measure, or in some way, with a similar experience to the Apostle Paul's (2 Cor. 11:23-27). All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). It is impossible to be faithful to Him, and not suffer in some form or other at the hand of man.