HEBREWS 9:27 – “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”

THEME OF THE DAY: MAYBE TODAY.  In today’s scripture, unless Jesus returns in clouds, there is the declaration of an appointment for every human being that will be kept.  It cannot be cancelled, rescheduled, ignored, or forgotten.  We will keep it. We don’t know the certain day and time, but we do know its certainty.  It is what the Bible calls “the last enemy” – death (1 Corinthians 15:26).

When is the last time we thought about death, not just when a friend, family member, or fellow Christian dies, and a funeral is attended but during the course of living life?  Like today. One of the main causes for a spiritually lukewarm condition is that we are so fixed on the things of this world, we rarely think of the unseen realities of the next world and death reminds us that next world is only a breath away.  So does God’s Word.  Two passages in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament give us vivid illustrations of the short journey we have on earth.  And since we don’t know the day of our death, that journey might be shorter than we think!

“For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow” (Job 8:9)

“A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass” (Isaiah 40:6-7).

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:13-17).

All of these references point to the sudden and fleeting nature of life. It is described as a shadow, grass, flowers, and a morning mist quickly burnt off by a rising sun.  With the predominance of scripture affirming to us the brevity of our lives on earth, these become warnings not to waste our only life on what really doesn’t matter.  But let’s look at the positive side. In light of the brevity of life, how should we approach life and with what priorities?

First, don’t let a day go by without thinking this could be our last day on this planet.  If we think this way, and believe this way, we will be wise in the use of our time (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Second, the brevity of life makes us live with the right priorities in life, and that is spiritual and eternal, not physical and fleeting.  The centrality of Christ, the sharing of the Gospel, the pursuit of holiness, obedience to God’s Word, and investing in people will be the qualities defining our lives.

Remember, there is an appointment in our future we will keep – it is appointed for man to die.  Maybe that appointment is today! Live like it might be. Someday it will be!

PRAYER: Father, help me to live each day on earth as if it may be my last.

REFLECTION: To live knowing we are one heartbeat away from being with Jesus should shape each day of life.