“Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” (Amos 4:12)
You are very old, it is very cold outside, there is no heat in your house, you have no close companions or family to come and check up on you, you are very sick, and it is time to die. What will you prepare for in your mind?
We live in an age where the deception of guaranteed health coverage is perpetuated upon all, when the commercials tell us that if we take the medication, this pill, we can live another few months to enjoy the pleasures of the sunny day tomorrow. We do not live on a planet that speaks of eternity.
I ask you, when you are driving down the road at a high rate of speed surrounded by other vehicles, when you are at your place of employment on a normal workday, when you are walking down the street or simply into your kitchen, are you prepared to meet your God? “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20) At any moment of any day you may take your last breath, but this is not a thought that is prioritized in the lives of people, the sun will come up tomorrow and you will be here to greet it.
My lovely wife and I used to watch a program called “Hoarders,” where people accumulated as many materialistic possessions as possible, where a psychologist was called in to assist them with this compulsion. I recall one man who was compelled to collect projects to do in the future respond to them, “I thought I had more time.”
Nearly every society will call the death of the young “untimely,” and of the very aged “a blessing,” news outlets search diligently for those accounts of “untimely deaths,” yet offer no end to the account, did those involved go on to eternal life or eternal death?
The young do not ponder these thoughts, the aged do all they can to keep them from the forefront of their minds. One does not need to know Hebrews 9:27 to understand the truth of it, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
The real question is, are you prepared to meet God, are you prepared to give your account, the final answer to 1 Peter 3:15. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31)
This is the thought that passes through the mind of the lost when they ponder their last day, for the invisible things of God are clearly seen by them, they know they are unrepentant sinners, they know they will be judged by their works, and they know they will fall short of the glory of God. But instead of falling on their face before Him in all humility and reverence, they work harder hoping to attain by some favor of the Almighty recognition of a life well lived. They do not know the hope those that have been saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ have, there is no assurance of salvation in their lives, they fear to meet God, yet they will not turn to Him.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” (1 Thess. 4:13)
Not even when it is our turn my friends.
We rejoice, we find great anticipation when pondering that moment, we look forward with great joy towards that final moment. The flesh fears, and rightly so, for it will know nothing beyond the grave, but we keep our body under subjection, we rest in the promises that we know to be the truth, that “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:3)
Whether it arrives quickly and without any notice, or slowly with the surety of knowledge, death will come to where you are. There is only one question worth asking then, do you fear that final moment, or do you anticipate it with great joy?
Are you afraid to meet God?
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” (Job 19:25)
