Have you ever
thought about the
number of decisions
we make in one day
related to our
future? We get up in
the morning and
decide what we are
going to wear to the
workplace. We decide
where we will have
lunch. We decide to
stop for a few
grocery items
returning home that
evening. We decide
what we will do
between arriving
home and bedtime.
Between these few
decisions are
perhaps thousands I
haven’t even
mentioned.
Any decision that
extends beyond the
time it takes to
breathe our next
breath is a decision
of the future, and
we have no guarantee
of our next breath.
We buy items on
credit, such as
homes and
automobiles,
expecting to be
around to make the
payments. We plan
for retirement and
purchase life
insurance for the
“distant future.”
We make plans for
college and a
business career. We
marry and have
children. We plan
our vacation which
is only months away.
We plan to take the
children to the zoo
the next week-end,
which is only two
days away. We plan
to dine out with our
spouse this very
evening.
All the plans you
and I make are taken
for granted most of
the time. We never
really think about
them not being
fulfilled. However,
before I take a
drink of the coffee
I just made, I could
be dead. Before I
get my leg in my
pants in the
morning, I could be
in the next life,
either in Heaven or
hell. How many have
gone to work in the
morning and never
returned in the
evening? How many
have gone to the
concert, and not
returned in the
evening? How many
have opened their
car door and gotten
in for the last
time?
There was a man
Jesus spoke of who
believed he would be
around to build
bigger and better
barns,
“But
God said unto him,
Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall
be required of thee:
then whose shall
those things be,
which thou hast
provided?” (Luke
2:20)
That brings up
another point. All
of us have those
“things” we like to
hang on to. Think
about this though,
once we are gone,
someone else will
own them or they
will be discarded.
It won’t be our
house anymore.
Another family will
live in it. It won’t
be our fishing pole;
someone else will be
fishing with it.
Others will be
wearing our jewelry.
Our money will be
spent by someone who
didn’t earn it. As
with Solomon we
concur,
“18Yea,
I hated all my
labour which I had
taken under the sun:
because I should
leave it unto the
man that shall be
after me. 19And
who knoweth whether
he shall be a wise
man or a fool? yet
shall he have rule
over all my labour
wherein I have
laboured, and
wherein I have
shewed myself wise
under the sun. This
is also vanity.”
(Ecclesiastes
2:18-19)
Billions of dollars
are spent yearly on
the upkeep of our
bodies. Likewise,
much time is spent
to satisfy the
body’s needs and
pleasures. How much
thought is given
concerning our
souls? The life
expectancy of our
bodies is less than
a flash of time, in
comparison to the
eternity of our
souls.
Jesus said,
“26For
what is a man
profited, if he
shall gain the whole
world, and lose his
own soul? or what
shall a man give in
exchange for his
soul? 27For
the Son of man shall
come in the glory of
his Father with his
angels; and then he
shall reward every
man according to his
works. 28Verily
I say unto you,
There be some
standing here, which
shall not taste of
death, till they see
the Son of man
coming in his
kingdom.”
(Matthew 16:26-28)
Six days later Jesus
took Peter, James
and John up a high
mountain, and they
witnessed a preview
of Jesus as He would
come in His glory.
When the Church
joins Him at the
Rapture, we will see
the same
transfigured body of
Christ. When He
comes at the end of
the Tribulation, the
second coming, the
world will see Him
transfigured as the
Son of God.
There is the
absolute guarantee
of every believer in
Jesus Christ seeing
Him in His glory and
being with Him for
eternity. However,
there is no
guarantee of our
next breath for any
of us. Those who do
not know Jesus as
their own personal
Savior are playing
Russian roulette
with their eternal
soul.
I’m at the age where
I actually read the
obituaries. For you
young ones, your
time will come. Old
people whose bodies
have finally worn
out are not the only
ones in the
obituaries. Many of
the young, more and
more it appears, are
included.
The younger we are
the more death is
taken lightly. I am
of the opinion that
God has placed
within each of us a
mental attitude that
we won’t die for a
long time. It will
happen to someone
else, but not us.
Death is the
furthest thing from
our minds. I think
it is fantastic that
He has done this,
because if He had
not, we would all be
a basket case,
worrying about our
time to die. We
would be afraid to
get up in the
morning or even go
to bed at night.
Thank God, His grace
has provided this
for us.
However, He still
wants us to be aware
that we don’t know
our time of death.
We don’t know if it
is years, months,
weeks, days,
minutes, or seconds
away. As a
Christian, there is
no reason for me to
fear death, and I
don’t. I’m not too
keen on dying
however, but even in
that, He promises to
be with me.
The Lord also wants
us to know that He
will come for His
Church, his bride,
in an event called
the Rapture prior to
the period commonly
called the
Tribulation. None of
us know when this
will occur, no more
than we know when we
are going to die. It
could be at our next
breath. We don’t
know. It will happen
so fast, we will be
here one second and
gone the next.
“In
a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump:
for the trumpet
shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and
we shall be changed.”
(1 Corinthians
15:52)
The Christian,
whether by death or
the Rapture, has
God’s full assurance
that we will be with
the Lord Jesus. We
are insured by the
best insurance
company there is,
The Eternal Life
Insurance Company of
Almighty God. The
premiums have all
been paid by the Son
of God, and it will
pay out in full upon
our death or the
Rapture, whichever
occurs first.
To the contrary,
those who refuse
God’s Son Jesus
Christ, have no
hope. There is no
guarantee of eternal
life, only a
guarantee of
judgment and eternal
damnation.
Those who disclaim
Jesus claim hell.
One of two things is
going to happen
soon, and I have no
idea which will come
first. Will it be
the death of the
body, or the return
of Jesus to retrieve
His own? Either way,
prepare for
eternity. Make sure
your eternal destiny
is guaranteed.
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