THIMK!
I know this is not something we like to think about, much less talk about. But sometimes we just need to be reminded that this is someone’s last day.
These articles hit home to me as I was contemplating some losses here at South Cobb. We have recently lost Jerry Anderson, along with his wife Roslyn. We have lost Barry Broadway as of Wednesday, and Herschel Capes is in hospice right now.
We never know when we will draw our last breath, or how we will die. We must always be prepared. Friend, brother, sister, are you ready to die right now? Do you know where you will spend eternity? Christian, do you look forward to going to your eternal home? Are there some things you need to get right before the time comes?
THE LAST DAY OF YOUR LIFE
Knowing that the end was near, Joshua, the valiant soldier of God, used his last day of life to solemnly address the people of Israel. He began by saying, “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth” (Joshua 23:14). He went on to remind the people of God’s goodness in the past and to warn them that unfaithfulness to God in the future would bring ruin. (Joshua 23:15, 16). He closed his farewell address by urging: “Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness” (Joshua 24:14).
How would you spend your time if you knew that this were your last day on earth??? It is a sobering thought! Consider the following:
You don’t know when your last day will come. Few of us will be as certain of the arrival of our last day as Joshua was. We know that the day will come but we do not know when. The future, at best, is uncertain. We have no guarantee of tomorrow. The Bible compares this life to a vapor which appears briefly and then vanishes (James 4:14). That is why it is so important that we make immediate preparation for the day when we will “go the way of all the earth” ( 2 Corinthians 6:2).
Your last day will probably be a day like today. It is likely that the last day you live will be much like this one. The things you are doing now are probably the things you will be doing then. The great songwriter and preacher, Will W. Slater, spent the last day of his life preaching and leading singing in a small South Arkansas town. One of the songs he sang was entitled “This Is Someone’s Last Day.” He commented on the appropriateness and truthfulness of that title. Later that night he collapsed. He died on the way to the hospital in an ambulance. It was a typical day of his life – a fitting end to a life of faithful service to God. If today were to be your last day, would it be a day that you willingly accept as being typical of your life…?
How have you lived today? This is the real question! Have I used today for good or evil? Have I tried to help or hurt others? Have I sought to grow personally and spiritually, or have I been content to drift? Have I used the day to sow kindness or unkindness? Have I tried to live for God, or have I simply ignored Him? When I was in school, one of my Bible teachers taught me to pray: “Lord, help me to live every day as though it were my last day.” That is the real secret to successful living.
If you could know that this was your last day, would you wish to make changes in your life? This day has been given to you for preparation and self-improvement. Use it wisely!
Bobby Dockery
Fayettville, Arkansas
THE END
Delmar Morgan
Some time ago I attended the funeral of a beloved uncle. As I sat there listening to the minister I could not help but think about the end to time. Since I was child, I have always worried about the end of the world, “when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (I Peter 3:10)
This, though, has always worried many people. The Thessalonians brethren were very disturbed when Paul taught them about the return of the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4)
There is a day that we should worry about even more than the day in which the Lord shall return, that day is the day of death. Certainly I am not advocating that we shall all die before the Lord comes. However, it is only natural that man would think of the end of the world as being far out in the future. The Bible says, however, that “the Lord shall come as a thief in the night.” (I Thess. 5:2), therefore we know not when the end shall come. It behooves each to be ready. Both days, according to God’s word, are of equal importance. Whether the Lord comes or we die first, the end of time of preparation has come.
As for my beloved uncle, the end of time had come. The time allotted him for making preparation to meet his maker had ended. His destination is sealed, there is nothing that he can do to change it even if the earth should stand a million years. “It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.”
This man, I am sure, made preparations, he had spent many years teaching and preaching God’s word, The day before he died, I am told he spent visiting the and caring for the needy. His full intentions were to attend the Wednesday evening service that very day. I doubt seriously if he knew that he would die that day. He was ill, he knew that he, as all man, would die someday, but I doubt if he thought that day would be his last.
Death claims both young and old, “It is appointed unto man once to die“, nothing is said about age, time of day, month of year, only that all shall die. Thus it behooves each of us to obey God, to spend each day in service to Him and do all we can each day, to live for Him as this were our last day upon the earth. For when your life here has ended, it will be the end of this world for you.
Via Bremen Bulletin
