By Lou K. Coleman | WSS News Contributor
With as much going on in our society and in the world today, tomorrow is not promised. I want you to understand that there are two pressing deadlines and that both of them are urgent. Christ has a deadline for His return of which no man knows the day nor the hour [Matthew 25:13] and at the very same time, we are reminded in [James 4:14] that we do not know what our life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? A vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. So, consider today with some urgency your eternal life and repent before it is too late! Because once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, you’ll stand outside knocking and pleading, sir open the door for us. But “He will answer,” I don’t know you or where you come from [Luke 13: 25-27].
Listen, you don’t have to go to Hell. God has provided a way of escape for you. But even God’s way of escape will do you no good unless you reach out and take it. Why should you die in your sins? Why go to Hell when Jesus has opened the door to Heaven? Consider today with some urgency your eternal life. For you are not the master of your fate. You are not the captain of your soul. Consider the words of Jesus in [Mark 1:15]: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the gospel.
And please, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can wait until the last minute to prepare for it. Just as we don’t know the “day nor the hour” that Christ will return, the same goes for our own demise. Death can come at any time, whether we are ready or not! Take advantage of the fact that you are alive and well to seek God’s mercy and grace today [Proverbs 27:1]. The Bible says that God is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance [2 Peter 3:9]. Don’t gamble with your soul because one day an angel will place one foot on the sea and the other on the dry land and lifting his hand to heaven, swear by Him that liveth forever and ever, that “Time shall be no more.” [Revelation 10:5-6].
Now I know some will say, well the thief on the cross was spared at the last minute. Yes, he was. But although the story of the criminal on the cross demonstrates that last-minute conversions are possible, the Bible warns us to repent now, without waiting another moment [Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17]. We are not instructed to consider converting someday, but to believe today! For none of us knows how much time we have left in this life or what the circumstances of our death will be. We may die in a sudden, unexpected manner that will preclude a deathbed conversion. The only reasonable option is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ today [Hebrews 3:7-8, 14; 4:7]. For in [2 Corinthians 6:2; Luke 16:26] Jesus declares, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.
Now this day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God [Deuteronomy 30:19-20].
For a small reward, a man will hurry away on a long journey; while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step – [Thomas a Kempis].
They know the truth and even believe the truth, in the sense that they acknowledge its truthfulness, its rightness. They are well aware of the good news of salvation provided in Jesus Christ but are not willing to commit their lives to Him. So, they drift past the call of God into eternal damnation [2 Timothy 4:4 –
2 Thessalonians 2:11:12].
The Tragedy Of Delay and Rejecting Salvation!