How Long Will You Live?

October 31
Today I just watched ”8 Simple Rules.” It’s usually just a sitcom about a man, his wife, and children who was protecting his children from evil boys who want to take them to bed. This one was about how he died and how the family dealt with his death. It brought tears to my eyes many times. Its times like these that bring us to the brink of sanity (not a typo; really not insanity). It’s times like these that make us remember life is so short and so tender. Yesterday, one of my former students, a young man of only 24 years was killed in an automobile accident. In the past few years, we have lost four students to such . At this very moment, God may choose to take any one of us to himself; and that point in the time of our lives, as creatures of time, becomes insignificant when compared to eternity.


The point for us to consider is that none of us knows when the God of creation will come for us. And, our final destination is determined by several things. God’s word makes it clear that life is fragile at worst and fleeting at best. Jesus makes it clear we must be living as if God will come to take us to Himself at any time. We must be cognizant that is true. We must also be cognizant, that implies if we walk in darkness., we will spend eternity in that condition. I often consider how we respond to His promise that we will live in the light if we come to the light. Then I reflect on the statement that if we worship idols we will spend eternity like those idols we worshiped. Do you worship gold? Can you even imagine spending eternity as a bar of gold totally aware of what is going on around you but unable to do anything about it? Can any of us imagine spending eternity as a child whom we worshiped? Some spend their lives worshiping a bottle of booze. Wow! How about a Cadillac STS? Or, maybe a job making $100,000/yr. Or, would you prefer to be a bottle of gin forever?

So, today’s point is that we need to live each moment as if it were our last. We need to be constantly and evermore ready to be taken to our Lord. And we need to consider whether or not we are ready to be judged. John the Baptist came to return Israel to God. He preached a gospel of repentance and living a life in keeping with that repentance. America is filled with people who are in church because they had a pang of guilt at some point of their lives but never actually repented of that actual guilt. If you desire to spend eternity in the kingdom of God, you might actually be one of His who have been chosen to hear these words. If you actually (really do) repent of your sins, get baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, believe God raised Him from the dead, confess Jesus as Lord, and live daily for Him, you can be sure you will spend eternity with Him. And that’s God’s word for us today.