Today I was going through things as I always do. I received information that someone we had gone to school with had passed away over the weekend. They had not made it to the reunion last year because of their condition. So we, as others, had not seen them in a long time.
As I read about their passing, I paused to pray for the family. As we so often pray, it was for peace and strength in the days to come as they say goodbye and mourn the loss. The thought that came to mind was had they accepted Christ as their Savior? If you think about it more closely the question is did they determine where they would spend eternity. That decision is made on this side of the grave, not the other side.
I say that because according to Scripture that is what we are told we must do. Daily we are hearing more about what some think is true. I wish there were more opportunities today for discussion between people of differing views. Unfortunately, some in our world have no desire to hear what another has to say on a given matter.
The Bible is God's Word and His instructions. I mentioned earlier we have to make a decision about Jesus on this side of the grave. Many of you have made that decision. You hopefully have made it by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. By the way, it is the same for everyone.
As I have said before, Paul made this declaration I Romans 10:9 NKJV
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
With this being said, then let me continue today in this blog. As we have seen already, the most important decision we make in life is regarding Jesus as our personal Savior. Once that decision is made, we know we will have eternal life and will spend it with the Lord in His Heaven. Conversely, if the decision is not to accept Jesus as our Savior, the decision has been made to reject Him. Thus, the decision will have been for an eternal life of torment with the devil in hell.
People die every day and so many of them go into eternity separated from God forever. That is why it is so important to tell others about Jesus, to support missions through the local church so that others can go. Pray for others who hear and for those who tell them about Jesus.
The truth is any one of us could die today. Likewise, Jesus could come back today. As a believer, you are secure in your eternal destination. As an unbeliever, you too are secure in your eternal destination, albeit separated from God for eternity.
In the course of any given day, we make many decisions. Some are very minor and others carry much more weight because of the consequences of the decision. Yet on that day we make the decision to accept Jesus Christ we have not only secured our eternity with Him. We have also secured the abiding Spirit of God in our live. A comforter and guide.
You are probably like me and want everyone to accept Christ. It would be the best thing they ever did and it would have a positive effect in the world in which we live.
In God’s Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy