Is the exact moment of our death set, without regard to anything we do? Psalm 139 says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book.” After one whom I knew took his life, a friend commented, “God loved him but God did not want him to do that. He got home earlier than God had planned.” This is complicated, isn’t it? Here the writer of Hebrews does not say that the moment we die is foreordained. Instead he says, “We are going to die once and after that to face the judgment.” The statistics are startling: mortality rates are hovering right around 100%. Everyone who is born dies. But what then?
Good news: Christ took our judgment upon himself. He died once to take away the sins of many. Why many and not everybody? Salvation is available to all. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Not everybody calls upon the Lord. Many do and Christ takes away our sins. Better news: Our Savior will return not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. When Jesus returns will we be waiting for him?
When our dad went over to Germany to get a place for our family to live, we stayed in Chicago with an Uncle and Aunt for several months. I started seventh grade in Waukegan, Illinois. After living in Alaska and Montana, I can say that Chicago was the coldest place I ever lived. In the afternoon, one of my brothers and I would walk to the front of the neighborhood to wait for our Uncle to come home from work. When he turned into the neighborhood we got in the car and went home. We didn’t mind waiting in the cold because we loved our Uncle. I remember he was so glad to see us and said, “I’ve never had anyone wait for me to arrive before.” Imagine the joy of our Savior to find that we love him so much we are willing to wait for him. And he will return, right on time to bring our salvation. Will we be ready and waiting?