Thank God, my salvation doesn't depend on me

During my early college years, a friend of mine had a motorcycle accident. He showed up at the tea house the next day with bandages all over his head and arm, saying, “Shoot! I thought I would die when I was hit. I wished I was killed instantly because if I was, I would have been in heaven by now. I have been very good lately, going to church and spending my quiet time with God, so I am sure I would have gone right to heaven if I died yesterday. But now I have to start over again, and I don’t know how long I can hang in there to keep myself good; I hope my next accident won’t be at a wrong moment.”
This friend didn’t understand that we are saved by grace, neither did I at that time. Life becomes stressful when we have to depend on our own good to enter heaven. When we understand God’s grace, we are set free, realizing that our salvation is not based on our merit, but entirely on God’s sovereignty and grace. “If God is for us, who is against us? ... For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31b, 38, 39).

Thank God that my salvation does not depend on my ability to be good all the time, because I can’t be. This doesn’t excuse me to be bad, but it does set me free to be better, with an attitude of gratitude.