By: Scott Adkins, Sling ‘n Stone Ministry
Carter County Times
We all have an appointment.
An appointment for what and with whom, you ask? Hebrews 9:27 tell us that what: “It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment.”
The Who should be obvious, but the Lord did leave us to guess. To that end, Jesus warned that “the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice.” (John 5:28). He continued, saying, the dead, both righteous and wicked, “shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and that that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:29). Two resurrections. Two judgments: one for the righteous, (Romans 14:10, 12), and one for the wicked. (Revelation 20:11-15).
Unfortunately, we tend not to consider that “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12). We do so because our accounting to God won’t happen until the resurrections Jesus described in John 5:28-29, until after we’ve left this life.
That delay causes men to “fully set” their hearts to do evil. (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Folks don’t like to think it, but death will come for each of us at our appointed time. Differently put, we generally do not consider our daily lives in eternity’s light because we seldom acknowledge that today might be our last. Just like Luke 12’s rich fool, who said, “soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” (Luke 12:19). God had different ideas: “But God said, thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” (Luke 12:20).
The point here is this: No one’s getting away with anything. Be sure of that.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 warns that God will bring every work (not some, and not just the ones we remember) into judgment. Jesus emphasized that, in the day of judgment, we shall even give account for every idle word we’ve spoken. (Matthew 12:36). These warnings should cause us to fear God, but few folks do. (Romans 3:18). Yet it’s only fear of God that cause folks to depart from iniquity. (Proverbs 16:6). Jesus also warned us to fear God: “be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28).
We must live our daily lives in eternity’s light, ever conscious of our appointment with God. No one escapes that appointment. God Himself warns us all: “Yea, before the day was I am He; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand.” (Isaiah 43:13).
Let us all consider this in our daily lives as we decide things like: will I witness for Christ today; will I love and forgive my enemies today; will I follow Him fully today; and will I gladly suffer persecution for His sake today? If we do not, we will one day explain to God why.
