On the day of your death, do you think you will wake up knowing that it is your last day? No matter how much we try to extend our lives with regular exercise, a nutritious diet, and the best medical care, our “last day” will still come, and often without warning. How many people, minutes before a fatal crash, can even imagine what the moments ahead will contain? And of those who stare death in the face for a second or two before it comes, how many do you suppose have time to turn their thoughts to God for salvation? Tragedy most often strikes unexpectedly, without warning. It comes as a shock, abruptly cutting off pleasure and comfort, and shatters the normal course of life. “As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them” (Ecclesiastes 9:12). Tragedy “cometh suddenly at an instant” (Isaiah 30:13). When that day comes for you, will you be ready for eternity? God in His mercy has not left us without warning concerning our eternal destiny: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). He pleads with sinners to turn to Him for salvation: “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7). “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). You only live today. The past is gone, and the future is unknown, making the present the only time you are sure to have. If you are ever to turn to God from your sin it will not be tomorrow, for tomorrow never comes. Now is the only time you have! “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Do you imagine that one day you will wake up and say, “Today is the day I’ll die. It’s time to get right with God”? No, you wake up each day going about your normal activities, never considering the end of life. It is a dangerous thing to put off the question of your responsibility for your sins. There is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:27-28). You will stand before God! God has patiently given you time, but He is calling you to recognize your need of forgiveness and turn to Him now. “The Lord is … longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Will you put Him off? Dear reader, this may be the last day that you have to accept God’s free, loving offer of forgiveness and salvation. Call out to Jesus Christ who died for you and is risen again. Trust Him to save your soul. Do it now, before it is too late! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18). —Ron Melick
