Tomorrow I will deal with That

Tomorrow I will deal with That

 

Have you been guilty of putting things off till tomorrow as if you were guaranteed tomorrow?  We are all guilty of this, in my years between jobs, many call that retirement but I never cared for the word retirement, in that it just works, without pay.  I’ve found myself telling my bride of 59 years not to worry about getting the house looking nice as we always have tomorrow.  Who gave me the authority to say something so foolish?

 

Driving to worship last Sunday I observed one of my neighbors out walking his dog, and my mind wondered if Sunday was just another day for him.  Does he know that God loves him and that it was God who told the Psalmist to record Psalms 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”  God has determined the number of hours, days, and months in our lives here on earth, Matthew 25:46 and many other passages teach that everyone will live for eternity.  If you do not believe in God, or life after death, I’m not going to change your mind, but Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 about a final judgment, when He will return to earth to Judge the nations.  like a good shepherd, he will separate those who have received Him by faith in His work on the Cross to His right, and those who have not to His left, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  Matthew 25:31-46 gives you a clear account of this.  Let me highlight a few verses you need to ponder on, Mathew 25:31-32, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” And in Mathew 25:41-46, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’  Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’  Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  

 

Life on planet Earth is a lot like the choice we make each day in our car.  You're behind some big truck and he is going around a curve, with a double yellow line but you are in a hurry and you choose to try and pass, just hoping no one is coming at you.  You did it before and it worked, but today it did not and your life has ended, all the plans you had are not important anymore, but your soul or spirit, the real you is very much alive.  Will you be on the right or left?  God is very clear hell was not planned for you!  But, like that yellow double line, you cross on the curve, your choices can bring life or death on earth, they will bring spiritual life or eternal punishment.

 

You might be wondering if Hell is a real place, well God’s only Son; Jesus Christ gave a lot of ink to that fact in the Scripture, and I have come to understand that believing Jesus tells the truth, is real faith.  Let me be very clear in the darkness we are living in, Jesus is Truth. Jesus talked more about hell than He did about heaven, and describes it more vividly. 

Jesus doesn’t only reference hell, he describes it in great detail. He says it is a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23), of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48), where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matthew 13:42), and from which there is no return, even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19-31. He calls hell a place of “outer darkness” (Taken from the site Christian Living) If you have been putting it off till you get your act right, I have got some great news for you, it is not required, Jesus will take you as you are if you are willing to allow Him to be the Master and you take the role of servant.

 

I lived for 27 years as master of my life, I believed that Jesus was God, that He was born by a virgin, and that He was the only way to the Father.  But I was not sure I wanted Him in Charge of my life.  I would do it later as if I was in control of later!  One night in Victoria, Texas returning from a bar, I put the key in the hotel room door and heard this voice in my head, this is the last day I will deal with you.  I opened that door and went for the hotel Bible, it opened to Romans 10: and my eyes went to verses 9-10, "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.  That night I acted on those verses with the faith and grace God gave me and I entered into Christ and He entered into me. 

 

I’m making better choices, but I have a long way to go, I do know that God’s plan for me is good, and I have an eternal home where Jesus is the author of Life, and Jesus will be my Master, and I, His willing servant.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice