Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

This has been the most difficult year of my life with the death of my father, and at the same time it has been a year of enormous spiritual growth for me as I contemplated death and the afterlife more than ever before. The sudden death of my Dad made me realize just how fleeting life is, and how quickly and unexpectedly it can end. You or I can be here today and gone tomorrow, and the question I ask you is this: do you know for sure, without a doubt, where you will go when you die? It is the most important question you can ever ask yourself.

Before I became a Christian, I used to think that I had never done or would ever do anything ‘bad’ enough to deserve an eternity in hell- that was only a place where the ‘really bad’ people went, and I was basically a ‘good person’, and therefore would make it into heaven because I had done more good than bad. I believed in God, and I thought that combination should be enough. I never realized the gravity of my sin and just how seriously God views it, regardless of how I see myself.

The Bible is clear that the moment we die, we will stand before God and “He will judge men’s secrets.” Not only will our outward acts be judged, but God will judge our every thought and the intentions of our hearts! The Bible says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ..every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to God. Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” God will hold each of us personally accountable for our actions on judgment day and He will judge us using HIS standard of goodness which is the Ten Commandments.

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Are You a Good Person?

If you think that simply being a good person will get you into heaven when you die, here is a test to see if you really are a “good person”. Read carefully through this list of the Ten Commandments and then ask yourself these questions:

1. You shall have no other Gods before me. (Question: Is God #1 in your life? Is He your main priority above all else??)

2. You shall not make unto thee any graven image [idols] (Question: What do you “worship”? Money? Material possessions? A made up version of a ‘god’, other than the God of the Bible, that you are more comfortable with? )

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain. (Question: Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? That is called blasphemy and is a very serious offense in God’s eyes.)

4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. (Question: Do you set aside one day of the week to dedicate solely to the Lord to worship Him and serve in a church?)

5. Honor your Father and Mother. (Question: Have you ever disrespected your parents? Think back to your teenage years. This was a scary one for me!)

6. You shall not murder. (While most of us would feel ‘off the hook’ on this one because we haven’t physically committed the act of murdering someone, Jesus compares murder with being angry in Matthew 5: 21-22 “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” Remember, God will judge the thoughts and intents of our hearts, not just our outward actions. (Question: Have you ever had hateful thoughts about someone?)

7. You shall not commit adultery. (Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Question: Have you ever looked at someone lustfully?)

8. You shall not steal. (Question: Have you ever taken something that does not belong to you? The value of the item does not matter. If someone steals just one dollar out of someone else’s wallet, they are still called a thief.)

9. You shall not lie. (Question: Have you ever told a lie?)

10. You shall not covet. (Question: Have you ever been jealous of something that someone else has?)

To be continued...