Keys to the Kingdom – Carolyn Tucker
My first dog was an adorable little black and white Rat Terrier. We named him Stormy because he was born on a stormy night and Dad brought him home on a stormy night. And then there was Davy, a smart grayish-black Poodle. I hadn’t had him very long when he simply disappeared; we never figured out what happened to him. And then in 2012, the same thing happened to Gus, my son’s beloved fawn Boxer. He was a beautiful and loyal friend, but one day he simply disappeared and we never saw him again.
No one lives forever on planet earth. For everything there is a season — a time to live and a time to die. Living and dying are eternally connected because the way you live determines where you go after you die. Your physical body returns to dust, but your spirit lives on forever in either heaven or hell. And it doesn’t matter whether you believe there’s a heaven or a hell; you will spend eternity in one place or the other because God‘s Word says so. God’s truth will trump man’s false opinion every time.
By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul tells us, “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people“ (Hebrews 9:27,28a NLT). God’s perfect plan is for everyone (who believes in Jesus and obeys His Word) to have an eternal home in heaven (John 14:1-4). You can take it to the bank — God is loving and full of mercy!
Jesus speaks of the judgment that comes after death: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels‘…And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:41,46 NKJV). It’s important to understand that hell was not made for people. However, when an individual chooses not to become born again and rejects Jesus as Savior and Lord, he has damned himself to spend eternity in hell.
Paul wrote to the Christians in the province of Galatia: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21 ESV). If any of these things are active in your life, then earnestly repent and receive God’s forgiveness now. You may not have tomorrow.
Oh where, oh where will you be after you take your last breath? If you think you’re simply going to disappear and take a long snooze, you’re sadly mistaken. When I was a young girl, I used to play and sing a song in church entitled, “Where Will You Be?” Here’s the first verse: “Just one life to live on earth and it swiftly passes by. From the moment of our birth ’til our time has come to die; God has given us this choice to decide our destiny. In a million years, where will you be?”
The Key: Heaven is as wonderful as hell is horrible. You better get to livin’ like there’s no tomorrow, because at the end of your life there’s only one thing that will matter.