That Day Is Coming

There have been so many reminders for me this year that life is but a vapor. Anything can happen to snuff out life at any time. Sometimes people are spared and other times they aren’t. Our days are numbered and God alone knows how many there will be (Job 14:5-7). Indeed, His sovereignty rules over all.

We were given a vivid reminder of God’s sovereignty yet again last week. We had gone camping with family and I had taken the five oldest grandchildren to the playground. A few minutes after we got there, I saw my mom walking towards me. “Did you hear what happened?” she asked. She proceeded to tell me that the electric pole (that fed one whole half of our campground) had fallen on our camper when there was a gust of wind. We were told to remove ourselves from our camper and our campsite immediately.

As I stood back a ways staring at that pole, I couldn’t stop thinking about what could have happened or stop thanking the Lord. Most of the family had been sitting quite near to that pole when it had gone down. My husband had been inside the camper. Had it fallen in a different direction… Other scenes played out in my mind as I considered the “what-ifs”. Why had God spared us such terrible heartache on vacation when other families are not spared? Just recently, I read of the little girl of a Christian family who was killed by a splintering badminton racket while they were on vacation. We can’t know His reasons or His purposes. Sometimes, we don’t understand His timing. But we can be thankful for each day we are given. Each one is like a precious jewel; a gift that will eventually no longer be given.

It is such a vivid reminder that we are ALL going face Him at some point. We may get a terminal diagnosis and have a bit of time to contemplate where we are going to spend eternity. But we may not.

A few weeks ago, I was at the funeral of someone whose eternal state was undetermined. We had the opportunity to share the Gospel with this man whom my husband had been friends with for many years. At one point, we thought he understood. But our last visit with him in the hospital left us both discouraged. He seemed to be basing his salvation on his own goodness rather than on Christ’s righteousness. We were disheartened.

His was an extremely difficult funeral to sit through. The pastor didn’t know the deceased and he read scripture passages and readings from a book he held in his hand (not a Bible but some kind of book specifically for funerals, I assume).

As this pastor spoke, he claimed the promises from scripture for the man whose life had been snuffed out by cancer. As I thought about this, I thought of how many profess Christ and claim the promises of the Bible but never live for Him or follow His commands.

Are the promises of scripture for those who lived their entire lives living in sin and loving the world? Are they for the person whose entire focus for their entire life was on their own dreams, desires, and delights? Are they for the person who never repented of sin? Who never felt convicted of anything? Who lived just like the rest of the world? Who never even thought about following Christ’s commands?

They are not. The Bible’s promises are for the genuinely saved person who recognizes their sinfulness, turns from it and relies on Christ alone for salvation; who takes up their cross, denies self, and follows after Christ.

We can live for Christ for our entire lives or it may be for just the few minutes we have before we die. We know from the thief on the cross and from the parable of the field that salvation is available to all who are still breathing. But it does yield a true change of heart whenever it occurs.

The Bible gives us a clear description of those who can claim the promises of God. It shows us how their desires and priorities change after salvation. Some passages to study are Matthew 5, John 15, Colossians 3, Galatians 5, I John 2. There are so many more. But this can get you started. These passages describe the evidence found in a life that has truly been redeemed by Christ.

One day we will all come face to face with God.

We will either face God as a repentant sinner saved by grace through Christ alone; as one who has been given a heart of flesh along with changed desires. If we are God’s own redeemed child, then we will be welcomed by our loving Savior to the place He has prepared a place for us (John 14:1-4). The Bible says that the Lord views the death of His saints as precious (Psalm 116:15).

OR we will face God as an unrepentant sinner with a heart of stone, still clinging to sin and this world; trying, in vain, to claim that that our “good deeds” were enough to render us right with God and give us admittance into heaven on our own merit. Those who never turned to Christ will find out too late that they have no merit to offer and that salvation and eternal life are found in Christ alone.

I can’t make you or anyone else believe the Bible is true. I can’t convince you that God’s Word teaches that the evidence of a true believer, according to God’s Word, is a life lived for Christ that distances itself more and more from sin and from the things of this world (never perfectly, of course, but always growing and changing, be it ever so slowly or quickly…) It’s a life that submits to and obeys God’s Word.

God isn’t interested in our “decision for Christ”. Anyone can make a decision. What matters is how we have lived after we have made that decision. Do our lives give evidence that we really believe what we said we believed when we made that “decision”? Did we really repent of our sin or did we just simply “accept Christ”?

Many times, people aren’t even told the true Gospel. If you aren’t sure you understand or want to know more about what the Bible teaches about how you can be saved and made into a new creature, you can find out more information here.

I hope I never have to go to such a hopeless funeral ever again. But I am sure I will. Many are those who aren’t prepared to see Jesus.

When we were visiting with my husband’s friend in the hospital, he shared how he couldn’t believe that in just a few short months he was facing death. He had felt so good not that long ago. But life had changed…and it had changed quickly.

That day is coming for each one of us and there is simply nothing more important than being ready to face God when we are on the cusp of eternity.