The
Israelites were told to “Prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4:12).
All people should be preparing to stand before God, because one day we
all will. No one knows the day or
hour he will die but, “And as it is appointed for man to die once, but after
this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Our
appointments with death and judgment cannot be canceled.
Every person who has ever lived will keep both appointments whether
they want to or not. Death is not
the end for anyone. We are not
like the dog Rover, when he is dead he is dead all over.
People are eternal beings and all our souls will live on eternally in
either one of two places: Heaven or Hell.
When we draw our last breath, our eternal fate is sealed.
After we die we will all stand before the Lord and be judged.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each
one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad. Knowing,
therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).
“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans
14:12).
The vast majority of the world is living as though they think they will
never stand before the Lord in judgment. They
live as though they think there is no God.
They give no thought about ever dying, but they will die because there
is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2).
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with
fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:10-11).
For the vast majority of people, “It is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
People, who are not prepared to meet God in judgment, do not realize
how fearful this will be. But this
will only be the beginning of their fear, which will last forever and ever.
Because the majority of people have not prepared to meet God, “There
will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42), when they are cast
into “hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, where their worm
does not die” (Mark 9:43-44). This
torment will go on forever. This
is not a scare tactic, because Hell is real.
But what about the few who are prepared to meet God as they “Enter
into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21)?
In Heaven “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall
be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”
(Revelation 21:4). Let’s be
prepared to meet God so we can go to Heaven.