Are You Ready?
By Ron Boatwright
According to our Lord, the vast majority of people are not ready for the Judgment and will be lost forever in eternity, but only a few are ready to go to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). We are told in Amos 4:12 to "Prepare to meet your God". We have two appointments that have already been made for each of us and which we will definitely keep. Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the Judgment." These appointments cannot be canceled.
We don’t know when that day will come, so we must always be ready. 2 Peter 3:10-11 says, "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…Since all these things will be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness."
The Judgment will happen when the Lord comes again. No one will be exempt. "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Romans 14:10). If we are not ready, it will be too late to try to get ready when we are standing before the Lord in Judgment. Our eternal fate is sealed either when we draw our last breath or if the Lord comes before we die, and we don’t know when this is going to happen. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says, "When the Lord Jesus is revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."
Sadly the vast majority of people will be horrified when they hear "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Those who are lost in Hell will only have themselves to blame. Is your name in God’s Book of Life? If it is not then, "Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15). How do we make sure our name is in the Book of Life? Jesus says "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven" (Matthew 7:21). But then Jesus says that we must "Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). We must do God’s will and continue to do His will if we expect to go to Heaven. Are you ready for the Judgment?