Westside Church of Christ

Linda was a classmate of mine, and she had it all. She grew up in a wealthy family and had her own car before anyone else in school. She attended a bigtime university and dated a college football player. She vacationed at the location of her choice and as often as she wished. Her life was filled with an amazing assortment of material luxuries. Then, in her mid-twenties, she was dead. Her heart beat for the last time, and she was carried into eternity. All of the goodies were immediately left behind. All that mattered at that moment was her relationship with the Lord.

It raises the question of whether she was prepared or not. We don’t ponder that inevitable end when we are young and healthy. It is an ironic twist that Linda grew up in a beautiful, huge house which also served as a funeral home. A portion was separated for the business, and the rest was a residence. It seems it would be impossible not to consider death in such an environment. But did she become numb to the idea? No one knows but her and the Lord what she thought or believed. Whatever it was, it will be with her forever. We can be sure that she knows now that earthly possessions mean nothing when that day comes, and it will come for every one of us.

A car wreck took her out of this world. No one could have known. None of us knows when or how we will come to our end. We just know that we will. It is an appointment with no exceptions (Hebrews 9:27). There have been all kinds of people throughout history. Famous and irrelevant. Educated and illiterate. Wealthy and poor. Dedicated believers and atheists. Male and female. There is one mutual experience that they have all shared: Death. Both the rich man and the poverty-stricken beggar, Lazarus, both died. Then, the rest of their stories were totally different (Luke 16:19-31).

Death is an absolute certainty, but let us never forget the second aspect of that guarantee: judgment. There is a righteous judge awaiting our arrival at the end of the journey. He is a Savior for some, and that will be the best moment that they have ever experienced. It will be the worst for those who have rejected His salvation, and He tells them to depart because He never knew them. It is awesome to think that we will stand before the Lord of the universe, but we will, every one of us.

Death comes to every one someday, and to someone every day. We cannot predict when or how, but it is certain that judgment will follow. Are we prepared for that? It can be our most exciting prospect or the most frightening one. Which will it be? That’s up to us. Ready or not, it is coming.

Call to Praise: James 1:19-25

His word on it: 1 Thessalonians 2:13

Sermon: “God’s Amazing Word”