How long is forever? It really is a long, long time!
Travel with me for a few minutes, will you?
Let us travel ahead to five minutes before you die. I surely hope that is a long time from now, but let us be very sure of one thing.
Hebrews 9:27 states, "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment."
Screaming out from the pages of the Word of God, is this familiar passage. It grips our souls with stark reality. And yet, we don't talk much about it, or hear it preached about very much in most of our churches. It is not a subject you discuss with your friends over a friendly lunch.
Why is it that so important a subject, and so dramatic a statement is mostly ignored by us in this day and age? We don't like to talk about dying and only with the recent death of both of my parents in 1997 did I begin to think about my mortality.
My folks died at age 82 and 84, so I would like to think I have many years left in my life. But nothing is for certain. Accidents and disease happen to people every day. The obituary page is filled with folks in their forties and fifties.
The word forever occurs at least 392 times in the Bible. The first verse is Gen 3:22,23, "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." The last verse is Rev 22:5 "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever."
I would like to give you a challenge. Go to The Blue Letter Bible and in the search category, type for ever. Be sure and leave a space. Today we spell it forever, but the King James Version of the Bible, spells it for ever. Then read over the 392 verses and meditate upon them. Ask God to impress forever into your life.
I wrote this article near Christmas 2000. I was spurred to write it as I heard the familiar song, "The Hallelujah Chorus". My heart goes up in my throat and the hair raises up on the back of my neck, every time I hear them sing, "And He shall reign forever, and ever".
Today, in our fast paced world, we mostly live in the present and the past. The future forever is not in our vocabulary and many times we go days or weeks without ever thinking about it. My encouragement to you today is to think about it.
Back to five minutes before you die! Working in a hospital for 13 years, and watching my parents and others face death, I know without a doubt that five minutes before you die, if you know that death is coming, that you will be thinking about forever. There are no atheists in foxholes. When death is at your door, you think about eternity.
Wouldn't it make perfect sense to nail down your eternity today? Ask yourself the very personal question. "If I died five minutes from now, where will I spend eternity?" This is positively the most important question you will ever be asked.
That is why I am asking!
Being certain of that question is very important to you. Entering into God's forever is rather simple. I explain to many folks that it is simple as ABC. A---Admit you are a sinner. B---Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and your personal Lord. And C---Confess him as your personal Savior.
I will be very honored if you make this decision, that you would share that with me, so I may help you in your growth as a newborn believer.
If you already know Jesus as your personal savior, and you have unsaved friends on your mailing list, pray about sending this web page to them. God is very clear in his word, that he wants us to share our faith with others.
Isn't it remarkable that one day in eternity, all of us who have met on the Internet, will one day gather around the throne of God and worship him forever and ever.
Hope to see you there.
Jim Young
Want to help reach the world for Christ? Forward this site to a friend. Matthew 28:18-20
