You'll Wish You Did

His name was Mike.  We grew up together.  It was our Senior Year and he played defensive tackle in front of my linebacker position.  Our High School was very small so we knew each really well.  Because I had to be at work on Saturday mornings at 7:00, my routine was to head home after every ballgame to get some rest. 

It was after the fourth game this year that I wanted to talk with Mike about spiritual things but before I could get to him, several fans came to congratulate him on a good game.  (And he did play a really good game)  I walked away thinking, “I’ll talk with him this weekend.”  That was the last time I saw Mike alive.  At 2AM the next morning, he was hit head-on by a stolen truck driving at a ‘high-rate-of-speed’ with no lights on.  He was killed on impact.  We never know when death will call.

The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed to man once to die and after that, the judgment.”  What a sobering thought.  I ask you to process the thought that the God who created this world will be waiting to greet us and judge us after we die. 

We will not be judged based what “we think” is right or wrong, God will judge us based on HIS standard of right and wrong.  And He DOES have a standard for living and dying. 

What kind of God would it be that designed heaven and then NOT tell us what it takes to get there?  Not to worry, Jehovah God gives us specific instructions in His Holy Word.  As a local pastor friend frequently says, “Our life on earth is ‘boot camp’ for eternity.  Jesus says, “Unless a man is born again he will not enter or even see the Kingdom of God.”  For the one who doesn’t make it in, eternity doesn’t look so good.

Here is the kicker:  No one knows when this life will end. 

Recently, I shared a couple books on prayer with a close friend.  Less than three weeks later, he is dead.  Make plans today for what lies beyond tomorrow.  If you don’t, you’ll wish you did.