October 9 2018 – Click here to listen
A hurricane is moving toward the Florida panhandle and picking up speed as it goes. It will no doubt bring a tide surge, dangerous wind, rain and flooding, and people will be displaced from their homes and there will probably be loss of life. I’m praying for those in its path. I’ve been in two hurricanes and that is enough for me. The smart thing to do is get your home boarded up and get the heck out of its path.
Unfortunately, there are always those who defy common sense and try to ride it out. Some even boast of having a hurricane party. Then when the storm is at its violent height they want someone to risk their lives to come rescue them. It is a scene that repeats itself time after time.
It reminds me of those who reject God. They want to ride out their lives by themselves in true macho fashion. There is an old saying that there are “no atheists in foxholes.” I have seen many people who rejected God their entire lives who, when actually faced with death, had their “come to Jesus” moment. The problem with that approach is that no one knows exactly when that day will come.
I have faced death many times including from guns, knives, and being in brutal fights and being beaten with clubs, car wrecks, and so on. I have laid in hospital beds barely clinging to life numerous times. Like a hurricane it is one thing to talk big about riding it out and quite another to actually ride it out and face death up close and personal.
All of us will eventually succumb to death. There is no escape. Less you think of this subject as being ghoulish, the Bible states that we should think about death often: Eccl. 4:7 – Yes, a wise man thinks much of death, while the fool thinks only of having a good time now. I’m not worried about death at all. I will not face it alone. Jesus will guide me through the entire ugly process and turn it into something beautiful. I’m looking forward to it but am put here for a purpose which I intend to fulfill.
We all have a choice in life and a free will to choose or reject God. He loves us all and doesn’t want anyone to have to ride out the devastation of death or the pitfalls of this life or eternity alone. I once visited death row during a prison ministry event. Interestingly all the men to whom I spoke spent a great deal of time thinking about death. Some were crying and terrified of dying and yes those were the ones that knew they would face death alone. In a way those men were better off than some of you that rarely think of your own death opting to only think of having your hurricane party now. Many of them turned to God right then and there when presented with the Gospel.
If you know someone who is rejecting God, then witness to them. Witnessing is not begging them to accept God as their Savior but presenting the Gospel to them. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict them of their sins and draw them to Jesus. We are just messengers.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment