An Appeal
August 3rd, 2017
It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
So teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. (Psalms 90:12)
If you would like to know what a person believes about the future, observe how he lives in the present. If someone tells you that he believes Krispy Kreme Doughnut stock is going to quadruple in value by this time next week, then take note: Is he buying as many shares of Kripsy Kreme Doughnut stock as he can afford … or no?
According to the Scriptures, what we believe about the future will have a great influence on how we live in the present.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1st John 3:2-3)
As the brevity of life becomes more and more apparent with each passing year, he who is wise will live more fervently, not for a world scheduled to be destroyed but for an eternity that is fast approaching.
LORD, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days. Let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight. Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.” (Psalm 39:4-5)
Today, you and I are one day closer to appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Whether we are removed from this earth by the Rapture or by death, we are that much closer to bowing before the Son of God. We are one day closer to giving an account of our stewardship.
It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed … But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:11, 14)
To be prepared for our approaching evaluation, we must be able to present a life of faithful character and service when Christ asks to hear our account of what we did with His property:
“What did you do with the time and the resources and the abilities and the strength and the opportunities … I entrusted into your care … to prepare yourself and others for eternity … to the glory of My Name?”
Beloved friends, we do not have the luxury – or the right – to foolishly squander our fleeting lives on the temporal affairs of a dead world. Most certainly, the race we have been called to run will prevent us from being “in sync” with all the Jones’s out there. But the reality of our situation is this: We each have only one heart. We do not have two. We can have, therefore, only one devotion … only one all-consuming passion. We cannot have two. It is impossible to pursue the glitter of fool’s gold that so enamors this spiritually-dead world and be faithful to Christ at the same time.
Therefore, let us look down the track and set our gaze upon the finish line. Do you see “the joy set before (you)”?
How immense that joy will be to find ourselves in the smiling Presence of our glorified Master!
How glorious it will be to receive from His hand an imperishable reward!
How satisfying it will be to hear that wonderful greeting,
“Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Master!”
Just imagine what it will be like to cross the finish line! I have an idea that, at that moment, we will fall before our Savior, grab hold of His wound-scarred feet, and weep with gladness.
And so, with this eternal perspective, let us all
… lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
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Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created. (Revelation 4:11)
