Tuesday, May 12, 2009

What if tomorrow never comes?


There is no way to know what tomorrow holds.

The person killed in a car accident on their way to work didn't expect to die today.

The mom whose story I shared yesterday didn't expect to get cancer and die before her children grew up.

When our friend, Rodney, sat down in his recliner to sip a cup of coffee one morning last May, he didn't expect the massive heart attack that killed him.

Today I learned that Sally, a friend, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She is 57 years old. She's been here in Texas taking care of her mother-in-law (who is one of my clients) who had knee replacement surgery a couple weeks ago. Sally has had no symptoms until yesterday, when her speech didn't make sense. Her husband first thought she was having a stroke, but an MRI revealed a huge mass in the front of her brain. She'll have surgery tomorrow, but no one knows exactly what will happen after that.

None of us knows what is going to happen today. None of us knows what will happen tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that. We simply have to be ready.

What do I mean by being "ready"?

I mean we have to know the God who created us. We have to know His Son, Jesus Christ. And we have to come to a place where we recognize ourselves for the sinners we are and come to God in repentance. Jesus himself said in John 14:6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Folks, no one will enter heaven, where the Father is, without knowing His Son, Jesus Christ. Knowing about Jesus is not good enough. You can know all about someone without really knowing them personally. But in order to know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have to have a relationship with Him. You have to ask Him to wash away all the dark, ugly sin in your life and replace it with His glorious life-giving light. You have to accept that He is God and invite Him to be part of your life. If you don't, then you will spend eternity apart from God. It's as simple as that.

Car accidents. Cancer. Heart attacks. Brain tumors. Life offers no guarantees. These bodies of ours were not made to last. They will die. The question is, when?

What if tomorrow never comes for you?

Are you ready?

2 comments:

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Michelle -

When my husband suddenly became ill and was later diagnosed with leukemia, this lesson hit us full force. Life can change in a second.

Don't put off knowing the Savior, telling your husband and kids you love them, writing that book, saying that kind word. None of us knows what tomorrow will bring.

Blessings,
Susan

Michelle Shocklee said...

So true!! Thanks, Susan!
~Michelle