Who Is That Knocking at My Door?

If you are anything like me (and I believe many of you are), then you know what it's like to have visitors stop by your house. Usually these visitors are welcome. Often they are family. But sometimes a visitor shows up at your door and you secretly wish you weren't home (be honest ... I am sure you know what I am talking about!).

There is one visitor that will most definitely come knocking at our door. There will be no avoiding this. You could secretly change your address every day ... and he would still know where you live. Of whom am I referring? The Grim Reaper of Death, of course. The Bible puts it this way, "And just as it is appointed for man to die once . . . " (Hebrews 9:27). That's quite clear. All of us will one day die. Every single one of us. There is no avoiding the statistic that "one out of every one will die." But our "lives" don't end with death (profound thought!) ... for Hebrews 9:27 goes on to say ... "and after THAT comes judgment." After WHAT? After death!  So there is an "after that" to death. 

So what does this mean for you and me? For starters, it means that we had better be prepared to meet God. And for ALL of us - that is a HUGE problem! "For all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). We have rebelled against God ... insisting that we do life OUR WAY (Isaiah 53:6). God is a just and righteous God ... and there is a penalty to be paid for our rebellion against him. This is a penalty that none of us can pay for ourselves. It is too BIG! But this is where God stepped in and paid the penalty himself. He sent his Son to die for us ... to be our substitute ... to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus Christ faced God's wrath against our sin so that we would not have to! (to see a full explanation of this good news ... the gospel ... check out Two Ways to Live: the Choice We All Face.)

Once we have prepared to meet God by making a faith commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting him as our savior ... we still must prepare to stand before Him ... but more on this tomorrow. For today ... take a moment and examine yourself to make sure you are "in the faith" (2 Corinthians 13:5). If you are confident that you know Christ ... then rejoice in the grace in which you stand through Christ and Christ alone! (take a moment and listen to this song by the Getty's). 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

PS - FYI -- I got to thinking about death when I noticed in today's paper the obituaries of FOUR individuals whose ages were all within four years of mine!