Lord, I will give attention to Your reminding me that eternity is now. I have been bombarded by announcements that in the “sweet by and by” all things will be settled and I shall reach my rest and reward. But that is only partly true. Unless I make the right decisions and direct my feet properly now, there will be no sweetness in my by-and-by.
The old statement “Heaven and hell are right here on earth” is not totally true. But it is partly true. Hell is simply the ultimate confirmation of sin, and sin can be confirmed in this life as well as the next. So can godliness. As Oswald Chambers said. “The penalty of sin is confirmation in sin.” If I allow hardness and perverseness to set in, sin begins its confirming work immediately. Only the blood of Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit can stop, turn, and reverse sin’s deadly work. That is why a once-for-all decision, in which I rest upon one moment’s experience for a lifetime, is dangerous. I must engage in a daily, moment-by-moment walk with Christ if I am to avoid the deathly hardening of sin. The cross of Christ is sufficient for me only as I make it efficient in my life.
Should I, as a Christian, fear death? What is death? What else but God’s servant who brings home the ones who are to be prepared for examination. Death is fearful to the one who is not ready. But to the one whose life has been a daily cramming for the finals, it is a welcome signal, a signal that will bring his whole life to realized fulfillment.
How true, Lord, that eternity is now. To wait for its dawning is to wait too late. “Now is the acceptable time” (2 Corinthians 6:2, ASV). Lord, continually teach me this lesson; yes, write it upon my heart.
“And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1 John 2:28).
Daily with the King 