Jesus said, In my Father's house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.
(John 14:2)

     A Bell-Ringer Exam is a type of exam in which a person is given a limited amount of time to be tested on various phases of a subject. When the allotted time is up, the instructor rings a bell indicating that it is time to move on to the next phase of the test. For the Christian, life is a lot like a Bell-Ringer Exam with God as the instructor and the world as our classroom. The first bell rings in childhood. The second rings in young adulthood, the third rings when we are old. And the last bell rings at the moment of death.
     Although we may not know when our last bell may ring, like Abraham, we can rest assured there awaits us on the other side of eternity "a city… whose builder and maker is God" (Heb 11:10). Today we are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb 11:13), but beyond the grave "we shall... reign" (2Tim 2:12) as "kings and priests unto God" (Rev 1:6) in "the holy city, new Jerusalem" (Rev 21:2), where "God shall wipe away all tears… and there shall be no more death... sorrow... nor… pain" (Rev 21:4).