We spend all of our lives preoccupied with things that seem so important, yet at the end of our life all these things will not matter at all.
I have had the difficult task of being present during the final weeks or hours of the lives of a few persons. They were difficult moments to say the least. Trying to give comfort and encouragement to souls ready to pass into eternity, or as it would have it, never ready to pass into eternity, but going there anyway.
Not one of those who were passing from this life to the next ever has told me how important their money or possessions were. In fact, there was never a mention of any material thing possessed in this life by any person in the final hours of their earthly life. What was on the mind and heart of everyone of those passing away was “where is my loved one?”, “Can you find my loved one and bring them here before I am gone…”
I suppose that when all resemblance of this life is over and all that remains are a few final breaths and the constant thoughts of loved ones, that a person finally comes to that place that they should have been every day of their life. When everything that is important is clear and everything that matters little is given no thought.
It is in those final hours that most people finally realize that they had wasted a large part of their life and wish that they had spent more time on spiritual matters. A willingness to hear about the Bible and what God requires for eternal life is the forethought of many who know they are not long for this world.
I spent 35 years telling my father about Jesus with not a single willing moment, yet while in the final month of my dear father’s life, eternal life, the Bible and who Jesus is, were the most important subjects on his mind. I am so glad that the Lord is so gracious and kind that when someone finally reaches the end of their days, that He is still willing to hear the prayers of repentance and grant eternal life to every heart that is sincere.
The Bible is clear that there is no second chance if we don’t get it right in this life. The decisions we make ether to accept or deny Jesus Christ in our life is sealed at the moment of death. Their is no appeal for a second chance after the spirit leaves the body. For the one who has accepted Jesus sacrifice for their sins, the moment the spirit departs the body, it finds itself in the presence of the Lord in heaven. For the one who has rejected Jesus offer of forgiveness their whole life and dies, that decision is sealed at their death and they depart this earth to await the final judgment at the end of the world.
It is so important that we get this right while we still have time to get it right. We have all been granted a wonderful opportunity that no angel ever had. For in the fall of the multitude of angels that fell with Lucifer, there was no appeal to the mercy of God. There was no plan of salvation for any of the fallen angelic hosts. Yet who is man that the Lord should do such a thing as offer up His only Son for the sins of fallen man so that everyone who believes in Jesus death for their sins and takes Jesus as their Savior and Lord, has eternal life?
If we were at the final hour of our lives as we read this brief article, we would know the truth of these words. But we are not there yet, we can only hope for ourselves and everyone who reads this brief, that all of us and all those we know and love, get this most important decision right before it is too late.
Rob Robinson
