They fritter and waste the hours away, because they think life is long, and there is time to kill today.
This describes the majority of people on this planet, most of their lives are spent in endless pursuits of self and selfish desires, the mundane and trivial, the things that they expect they begin to believe they deserve, and when these items are removed from them, they worry, and their greatest worry is death. Any and nearly all they do is meant to keep at bay the one great enemy, the one enemy that cannot be stopped, and so life, instead of being used for the benefit of some form of advancement is used instead for menial useless daily enjoyment, or simply to pass the time of life waiting for that which they fear the most.
“Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.” (Hosea 13:3) But people will not face up to this truth, they believe that there is always going to be a tomorrow for them, that they will see the sunshine tomorrow, and so each day is treated like the one before it, the daily avenues must be traversed until they become a well-known, well-worn rut.
I speak not here only of the lost, I am quite sure that you are aware of this fact, many I have met over the years of my life that profess Christ as Lord profess the same fear, only silently, only to themselves, as if not discussing this final moment of life will somehow avert its arrival. Death is not our friend, our friends will not be cast into the Lake of Fire, (Rev. 20:15) but he is also not some malevolent force that can intrude upon the end of our life here unexpected, he arrives at the exact time for all, and, at least for the believer in Christ, not until he is sent. But even this thought is not comforting to most, the subject is closed to them before it is even brought up, their fear cannot be assuaged because they will not face that fear, and yet they know, that to contemplate a matter is the only way to understand a matter.
It is a vicious circle and one that is repeated many times by almost all who know this fear of death. Many will use the excuse of the possibility of pain in this inevitable moment, others simply refuse to speak or think of it because it is the great unknown, yet they will sing of crossing over the Jordan into Beulah Land, they will give thought to how they can spend their every waking moment serving the Lord, how they envision heaven to be and all the pleasures of it, but not that transition time, not that one moment in time that is necessary for all men to experience.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27)
I have noticed many who speak not constantly but more often than usual, about the rapture of the church in these days, and most generally in a personal way, in one that seeks an escape from any possibility of having to deal with all that is occurring, these are just some of those that have this fear, for they desire the crown of life without the suffering of any adverse effects, and many who spend their lives professing Christ with only their lips have this same fear, for as they grow older, or as the circumstances in their lives begin to degenerate, they are faced with the truth, that they have lived a life of lies.
It is only when adverse effects arise, war, disease, illness, perhaps an accident or news from the doctor that is of a negative aspect do they begin to contemplate that which they have had an entire life to give pause to, they are going to die, and not in some far flung unimaginable future time, but soon.
When a man thinks often and deeply about this moment it will do one of two things to him, either create a fear, a void that must be filled constantly with trivial pursuits, or it will cause him to truly begin to live life, for the born-again believer, this contemplation should have been accomplished a long time ago, and settled in his heart at that moment.