Don’t Let It Be Said, “Too Late”

I was just thinking today about the precious gift that God gave us called life. Life is a miracle, given to us by our Creator. Even the birth process is a miracle. Think about it. A little blob of cells from a female meets a little blob of cells from a male and nine months later, the two have reproduced themselves in the form of a newborn baby.

There is a distinct process associated with birth and the period that immediately follows. When there are no complications, no one has to lead the infant out of the birth canal. They generally come out head first, going to a place outside of the womb that they have never been before. A force goes into play, labor pains begin and in a little while they are born. At birth a newborn is totally vulnerable. Their body temperature needs to be maintained in a narrow range; they have to be protected from the elements, and they have to be fed an appropriate amount and type of food very often. They meet parents that they have never known before and amazingly, most are instantly loved. With rare exceptions, those parents have a heartfelt commitment to take care of them until they are able to manage on their own. All of these things happen miraculously.

When infants are born, the Creator has already allotted them a certain number of days of life. The hidden secret is, however, that no one knows exactly how many days they have been assigned. We also do not know whether or not we will be able to live out those assigned days. According to the Bible, the number of days appointed for human beings is about 70 years or 25,550 days. According to Psalm 90:10 (KJV)

10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

We have all heard of someone who was blessed to live around 100 years or older, so we know that there are exceptions to even 70 years. According to Wikipedia, the oldest surviving woman in the past couple of centuries was Jeanne Calment of France. She was born in 1875 and died in 1997, making her life span 122 years and 164 days. The oldest surviving man was Jiroemon Kimura of Japan. He was born in 1897 and died in 2013 at 116 years and 54 days. At the time of the writing of this post, April 2016, Sussanah Mushatt Jones of the United States was the oldest living person on earth.   She was born July 6, 1899, and died on May 12, 2016, at 116 years, 311 days.

Phenomenal we say when we think of how long these individuals lived. It is my prayer that every single one of them gave their heart to the Lord before their death. If they did not, the legacy of all of their years would be no different than it would have been if they had died at age 20 without salvation. If they died without Jesus Christ they would have died like a fool died. A fool is one who dies without God. All of the additional years that they were given would not have made a difference in their ultimate outcome. Every single human being is given an opportunity to be saved and if they died without Jesus Christ they died like a fool died.

Why you may ask, do I say that that every single individual is given an opportunity to be saved? The Bible tells us in Titus 2:11-14 (KJV)

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

That Scripture tells us that in some way, and somehow God has made sure that His grace has appeared to everyone. Everyone will be given an opportunity to be saved. Whether that grace comes in the form of a tract that someone hands out or whether that grace appears in the form of a group of sanctified people standing on the streets preaching, or even if an individual just looked up and saw the sky and realized that there had to be a God, that Grace will appear to all men and women. Each of us can know that there is a God and if we desire to know Him He can be found of us.

The latter portion of Titus 2:12-14 says

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Verse 12 tells us that once we have life we must live it soberly. Very often when we hear the word sober we think that the word refers to someone who refuses to be drunken with an alcoholic beverage or using an illegal drug. But there is another way that an individual can be drunken.  This Scripture also speaks to the individual who is drunken on the cares of this world. Some people are so caught up in their job, family, sports, clubbing, and living the high life that they are not sober. The pressures of making it from day to day and keeping up with the Joneses has others so wrapped up that they don’t have time to think about God, Jesus Christ, or the very fact that their life is coming to an end one day. They just want to have fun and “enjoy life”, but they don’t see that there is a great pitfall waiting for them at the end of life. And the sad thing is, they have their figurative fingers stuck in their ears and refuse to allow anyone to tell them the truth of their situation. That truth is that they are going to die like a fool dies if they don’t have the salvation that only Jesus Christ can give.

Psalms 90:12 says, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. That Scripture says, “Please don’t let us forget that our days are numbered. Let us be wise enough to realize that we didn’t come here to stay forever.”   We have to think about what comes after life is over.

We all know that we are all going to die, even if you live to be 122 years old like Jeanne Calmet of France.   The Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

People, there really is a Judgment Day coming. Some may think that Judgment Day is the time when Jesus will decide whether or not you make it into Heaven, but that is not true. If you are found in the Great White Throne Judgment, Hell is already your destination. The judgment will be to determine how you will be punished not if you will be punished for your sins. I can tell you right now, based on your answer to two simple questions whether you are on your way to Heaven or Hell. The questions are: 1.) Have you repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior ? and 2.)  What kind of life are you living right now? If you have not repented of your sins, have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and/or you do not live for Him every day, you are not going to Heaven. If you are not living free and separated from sin right now, you are on your way to Hell.  Don’t count on what you have done in the past.  What are you doing today?

The judgment for those who died without Jesus will be to determine the type and level of punishment that is to be received throughout eternity; Heaven’s judgment for the Saints will determine how we are rewarded for the things that we did for the cause of Christ and the life that we lived for Him.

Once you are dead you cannot change your destination. It’s a done deal. It’s all over. So, while you still have the miracle of life that God gave you, get saved, sanctified, and filled up with the Holy Ghost. I implore you, don’t die like a fool dies. Don’t die without Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Don’t let it be said after you are dead, “He/she didn’t get saved…and now it is too late”.