Meditate. Consider life and death.
I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:12-15
Is your name in
the Book of Life? Actually, I recently heard a great teaching about life and
death in which a Pastor explained that everyone’s name is written in the Book
of Life and it is only those who reject Jesus Christ as their Savior whose
names are deleted from the Book. That is a heavenly assurance for babies and
children who have died before they had the knowledge to profess a faith in
Jesus.
Second death is the Lake of Fire. Personally, I don’t think that I will ever see that. I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He is risen from the dead—and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He taught that we should love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength…as well as loving our neighbor as ourself. I profess that I do love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength…and certainly try to love my neighbor—all those around me—as myself. Sometimes, I’ll admit, that loving myself is the hardest part—but God made me—and He loves me enough to have sent His Son, Jesus, to die for my sin—so with that in mind—I love me. If Jesus can love me…I can, too.
This Second
Death considers the resurrection of everyone—all the people who have ever lived
on earth. Over the thousands of years of existence, that is a lot of people. God
is going to judge them all. At that point, everyone will have had an
opportunity to accept or reject Jesus as their Savior. Don’t wait until then…it
will be too late. Decide today—the sooner the better. I hope that if you have
not decided yet, that you will choose Jesus. To reject Him is to choose an
eternity in the Lake of Fire. Choose carefully. Choose wisely. There is no
turning back once the Second Death has been pronounced.
The Rapture hasn’t happened yet…so of course the Second Death is still a thousand years off…after the millennium when Christ will rule on earth for one thousand years. But once someone dies…there is no opportunity to change one’s mind about Jesus as Savior. Once the Rapture happens, things will be set in motion and may change very rapidly. Additionally, we don’t know when we’ll die…so the time to choose is now. October is almost gone…2021 is drawing to a close, rather rapidly. Choose today whom you will serve in eternity. Do you want to stoke the fire in the Lake of Fire or bask in the presence of the Son of God worshipping Him in all His glory and might?
Prayer ~
Lord God, just as Joshua declared…“But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then
choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors
served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose
land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD." Joshua
24:15. I choose to serve You, Lord—me and my family.
Verses of Salvation ~ [Jesus words to a crowd during Passover—after His Triumphal Entry.] Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:25-26
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