What If?

 

What If?

 

Hezekiah has become mortally ill and Isaiah is sent to him with the message: Set your house in order, you are going to die"—2 Kings 1:20

 What if you knew, absolutely knew, that you had only one more week to live on this side of eternity? Would you live that week any differently than you have lived previous weeks? Would the daily conduct of your life suddenly change? Would the importance of wealth, possessions, amusements and recreational activities seem less important now? Would you suddenly find time to do those things you know you should do but just couldn't find time to do them, especially those of a spiritual nature? Would you suddenly become very much concerned about seeking first the kingdom of God? Would feeding on God's word, being an example to others, seeking and setting affection on things above suddenly take on great importance? What if—opens up a pandora's box of interesting thoughts for me. How about you? My question now is simply this: Why do we not live every waking moment as if we knew we were going to die the next moment? The thought occurs to me that we had best be living that way because not one single one of us is guaranteed another moment, much less another week on planet earth (Heb. 9:27; 1 Samuel 20:3).

 For every person the end of time on this earth will be the end of something. For the faithful child of God, it will be the end of all conflicts with the flesh, the end of suffering and trial, the end of all groaning under the burdens of life (2 Cor. 5:1-6; Rev. 21:4; Rev. 14:13).  For the faithful, it will be the beginning of a new life with Christ (Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:6-9).

 For the unbeliever and disobedient, it will be the end of all opportunity to be saved (Rev. 3:20; 2 Cor. 6:2; Eccl. 9:10). One day Christ will cease his knocking and then those who have not obeyed would give the world for just one more knock but, no the end has come! For the unfaithful Christian, it will be the end of God's patience (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:1; 1 Cor. 15:58; Eph. 5;14-17;2 John 8-9). The "end" will really be the beginning. Time will end but eternity will begin.  For the lost, it will be the beginning of an eternity of separation in a place of horrible punishment (Matt. 25:30, 41, 46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

 Proverbs 27:1: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."  All our hopes, dreams and plans for future tomorrows must be based on "the Lord willing" (James 4:13-15). Today, I leave you with this thought, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. that He may exalt you at the proper time" (1 Peter 5:6).

 Charles Hicks