Recently I was flipping through the channels looking for something to watch when I came across the ending of a blockbuster movie from many years ago, The Titanic. It was at the point in the movie where the ship was on its nose, slowly sinking into the icy waters. The lifeboats were already separated from the luxury liner, leaving the rest of the people clinging to their last few minutes of life.
It is a horrible scene, especially due to the fact that this movie was based on a very real disaster that took over 1500 lives. As I watched the ship sinking, the people dying, I immediately thought that despite all the ways Man creates to separate himself from other men, death is the great equalizer!
On that great ship were people of great privilege, people of incredible wealth. On that ship you also had those who had nothing. However, on that fateful night, there were men worth millions who died in those icy waters along side of men who didn’t even have $1. At the moment they took their last breath, their name, their job, their bank account, what they may or may not have accomplished during their lives, all ceased to matter.
At the moment they took their last breath, the only thing that mattered was their relationship with Jesus Christ, nothing else.
This is the foolishness of putting everything you have into these few years on earth. James calls life “a vapor.” The Bible tells us tomorrow is promised to none of us, that each day is a gift from God. Most people live their lives like they will never die, spending every second fulfilling the desires of their flesh. Their entire focus is on these few brief years and all of their time and energy, talents and resources, are invested in a life that will be gone in the blink of an eye.
If Bill Gates would die without accepting Christ into his heart, like the rich man in Luke 16, the moment he dies he will be eternally separated from God. All of his billions, all of his great accomplishments, all of his “good works,” will not matter. The moment he dies there is only ONE THING that will matter, and that is if he has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Likewise, if a homeless man in Chicago dies but knows Christ as his Savior, like Lazarus, the moment he dies he will be eternally with God, his Creator. The fact he had no money or no possessions or never did great things in his life will not matter. The moment he dies there is only ONE THING that will matter, and that is if he has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
DEATH IS THE GREAT EQUALIZER.
What is the main focus of your life today? Is it solely focused on these few short years or are you preparing for your eternal home? Are you using each day to lay up treasure where moth and rust doth corrupt or are you laying up treasure in Glory? Do you spend your day on the temporal or the eternal? How much of your time, talent, and treasure is spent on this life versus your eternal life?
These are all serious and legitimate questions only you can answer. Another good question you need to ask yourself is what will your legacy be? Are you working to build a legacy in this temporal world or are you working to build a legacy that will stand for all eternity?
The most important question that I could ever ask you is this: Are you ready to meet Jesus? Are you ready to take your last breath stand before God your Creator? If you took that last breath in the next moment, do you know without any doubt where your eternal home will be? Are you ready to die? Are you ready to meet Jesus? Are you ready to stand before God your Creator?
If you can’t answer each question with an emphatic, YES, and you aren’t one-hundred percent certain that you will be spending eternity in Heaven, please, take a moment right now and ask God to open your heart to hear His voice and watch this video clip: http://www.liveprayer.com/altarcall.cfm
There is no decision you will ever make in this life more important, since this is the decision that will determine where you spend eternity. The moment you die, all that will matter is whether you know Jesus as your Savior by faith. All of the things that separate men in this life cease to exist.
As a man takes his last breath, he will be separated like the wheat and the chaff. All that will be left are those who rejected Jesus and those who surrendered their heart and life to Him by faith. Death is the great equalizer!
God put you on my heart today and wanted me to tell you that if you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior by faith, NOW is the time to do it. You may not have tomorrow. If you do know the Lord in the pardon of your sins, it is time to quit focusing so much on this temporal world, and start focusing more on eternity. The things of this life will all pass away, but there is an eternity awaiting each of us.
It is not our accomplishments for this world that will stand the test of eternity, but our accomplishments for the Lord! Our only real legacy is not in the impact we make on this temporal world, but the impact we make in the eternal souls of men!
I praying each day for people to open their hearts and hear the Lord’s voice speaking to them. He loves you and has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life. He wants to use you to touch hearts and lives for the Lord. God has given you life to serve Him. May this Word today open your heart to the fact God is calling you and asking you to turn completely to Him.
Turn from the temporal pleasures and attractions of this life and focus instead on the eternal hopes and goals of our Heavenly home. It is too late for the rich man in Luke 16 to tell those he loves about Jesus, but it is not too late for you!