A judgment to come

 

 

Thought for the Week

 

And the time of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.--Acts 17:30-31

 

There is no truth more firmly established in God's word than that which tells us we are going to one day die. then face God in judgment to account for how we have lived in this life (Heb.9:27; 2 Cor. 5:10). We are frail human beings and must always be aware of how brief this earthly existence is. Regardless of what our life span is, it will be only a short time when we considers the eternity to which we are going.

 

The words of Amos, spoken to Israel long ago echo down the corridor of time and should be ringing in our ears: "PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD" (Amos 4:12). Because of the certainty and the nearness of death, that preparation should not postponed or delayed (2 Cor. 6:2).

 

We are prone to measure our lives in terms of years when in reality we should measure our lives in terms of one heartbeat at a time. We all walk a very fine line between living and dying (2 Sam. 20:3; Job 14:1-2). Realizing that our stay on this earth is brief and will quickly come to an end makes the words found in Psalms 39:4 encourage us to make the most of each moment: "Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am".

 

One day we will stand before the judgment bar of God to account to him for the things done in this body whether they be good or  bad (2 Cor. 5:10). We can live this life walking after the flesh or we can spend our life walking after the spirit in a manner that pleases God (Gal. 5:19-25). God leaves the decision as to which way we walk entirely up to us. That being true, if you were to stand in judgment this day, where would you spend eternity? Would happy your portion be or would it be a sad ending for you? What will it be, O what will it be?

 

Charles Hicks