This last Wednesday I had a sudden attack of Appendicitis. The pain in my stomach awoke me at 4:00am. I wasn't sure what was happening to me, but I new it wasn't good that's for sure. I thought that maybe I was having some severe indigestion or something and I immediately went to the medicine cabinet and drank down some Malox and tried to go back to sleep, but this pain just wouldn't subside enough to allow me to fall back to sleep. After a few minutes of tossing and turning in bed I finally figured I might as well get up and go to work. After arriving at work even though the pain never went away I was able to at least to some degree tolerate it because I could focus on other things. As the morning went on though the pain got worse and I finally decided I better get to the doctor. I went to the emergency room and after an examination I found out that it was my appendix that were giving me all the trouble and that I would need surgery immediately to remove my appendix. By 3pm I was sitting in my hospital room recovering from my surgery and thinking to myself... I never saw this coming!
You see, this day was supposed to be a huge day for me. It was inventory day at work and we only inventory once a year. I had been working day in and day out in preparing for this day. Everything had to be just right. Weeks of preparation had now come to an end and this was the day that all our hard work and efforts would be measured. This was going to be a long day for me, and not just a long day, but a day with consequences. The results of our inventory would determine bonus outcomes for all my associates and if we have good inventory results, then their bonuses will be generous, but if the results are not good then their bonuses will be greatly affected and possibly even lost depending on the actual results. Much rides on this day for all of us. So when I awoke with this pain in my stomach I automatically associated it with nerves or anxiety. But as I later found out, that wasn't it at all.
Later that evening while sitting there alone in my room, I thought about how little it mattered what I had planned for the day, this thing with my appendix's took over my life! At least for this moment nothing else really mattered. All my planning for the day, the importance of the day, none of it could stop this course of action that took place today. I use this story to remind each of us that we never know what tomorrow brings. It could have been a heart attack that took my life, or a stroke, or an auto accident, or any other tragedy for that matter. The bottom line is... when the time comes, and it does for all of us, will we be ready. I'm talking of course about our salvation. What if I'd been awakened by something else other than appendix and the attack ended with my death? It's now judgement day for me, and as I stand before Jesus, I see how important it is that I'm a child of God. Because only God's children are allowed into Heaven, those that do not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior will be cast into the lake of fire (Hell) forever!
What would happen to you if you awoke tomorrow morning and your plans were suddenly changed without warning? What would happen to you if find yourself suddenly standing before Jesus? If you have not made Jesus Lord of your life and called on him to save you before now... it's too late.
I remember when I first gave my life to Christ, I had thought about doing it for weeks prior to actually praying to the Lord to Save me. Why did I delay? Why did I wait? We'll there were several reasons I can remember. One was I thought I just wasn't good enough to be a Christian, for some reason in my mind I thought that Christians had it all together and well in some way were different than me. Another thought was that after I become a Christian, well, I'd have to clean up my life and live differently so I better start changing now before I ... you know, "Went all In." There were several different thoughts that went through my head, but it wasn't until I finally understood, and this understanding came form the Holy Spirit as I read the Gospel alone in my bedroom late one night. When I finally realized that I was a sinner, and that Jesus died on the Cross and rose three days later to provide a way for me to be made righteous with God, When I understood what Jesus did for me, I cried out to him to save me and give me eternal life. All those silly things I was thinking about before now didn't matter at all. Why? Because those reasons were all misunderstandings of what the love of God is all about. When a person finally knows and understands that they are lost and condemned to go to Hell unless they give their life over to Jesus and ask Him to be their Savior... There's no waiting anymore!
If you find yourself waiting, saying things like... "We'll maybe I'll give my life to Jesus next week." Or, "I'm just not ready to commit yet." You do not understand what God's love is all about. His love for you is this...
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Now is the time! Today, this very minute! Without Jesus, you are lost. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved! None of us knows what tomorrow brings, but eternal life comes only by way of God's Son... Jesus. Give your life to Jesus, and live without fear of tomorrow and all that comes with it.
God bless you,
Steve
You see, this day was supposed to be a huge day for me. It was inventory day at work and we only inventory once a year. I had been working day in and day out in preparing for this day. Everything had to be just right. Weeks of preparation had now come to an end and this was the day that all our hard work and efforts would be measured. This was going to be a long day for me, and not just a long day, but a day with consequences. The results of our inventory would determine bonus outcomes for all my associates and if we have good inventory results, then their bonuses will be generous, but if the results are not good then their bonuses will be greatly affected and possibly even lost depending on the actual results. Much rides on this day for all of us. So when I awoke with this pain in my stomach I automatically associated it with nerves or anxiety. But as I later found out, that wasn't it at all.
Later that evening while sitting there alone in my room, I thought about how little it mattered what I had planned for the day, this thing with my appendix's took over my life! At least for this moment nothing else really mattered. All my planning for the day, the importance of the day, none of it could stop this course of action that took place today. I use this story to remind each of us that we never know what tomorrow brings. It could have been a heart attack that took my life, or a stroke, or an auto accident, or any other tragedy for that matter. The bottom line is... when the time comes, and it does for all of us, will we be ready. I'm talking of course about our salvation. What if I'd been awakened by something else other than appendix and the attack ended with my death? It's now judgement day for me, and as I stand before Jesus, I see how important it is that I'm a child of God. Because only God's children are allowed into Heaven, those that do not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior will be cast into the lake of fire (Hell) forever!
What would happen to you if you awoke tomorrow morning and your plans were suddenly changed without warning? What would happen to you if find yourself suddenly standing before Jesus? If you have not made Jesus Lord of your life and called on him to save you before now... it's too late.
I remember when I first gave my life to Christ, I had thought about doing it for weeks prior to actually praying to the Lord to Save me. Why did I delay? Why did I wait? We'll there were several reasons I can remember. One was I thought I just wasn't good enough to be a Christian, for some reason in my mind I thought that Christians had it all together and well in some way were different than me. Another thought was that after I become a Christian, well, I'd have to clean up my life and live differently so I better start changing now before I ... you know, "Went all In." There were several different thoughts that went through my head, but it wasn't until I finally understood, and this understanding came form the Holy Spirit as I read the Gospel alone in my bedroom late one night. When I finally realized that I was a sinner, and that Jesus died on the Cross and rose three days later to provide a way for me to be made righteous with God, When I understood what Jesus did for me, I cried out to him to save me and give me eternal life. All those silly things I was thinking about before now didn't matter at all. Why? Because those reasons were all misunderstandings of what the love of God is all about. When a person finally knows and understands that they are lost and condemned to go to Hell unless they give their life over to Jesus and ask Him to be their Savior... There's no waiting anymore!
If you find yourself waiting, saying things like... "We'll maybe I'll give my life to Jesus next week." Or, "I'm just not ready to commit yet." You do not understand what God's love is all about. His love for you is this...
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Now is the time! Today, this very minute! Without Jesus, you are lost. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved! None of us knows what tomorrow brings, but eternal life comes only by way of God's Son... Jesus. Give your life to Jesus, and live without fear of tomorrow and all that comes with it.
God bless you,
Steve
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