To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born and a time to die………(Ecclesiaste3:1-2)

 Just as there was a time when we were born, there will also come a time when we will die. We know not the time of our death; we know not the place of our death nor do we know what the cause of our death will be but one thing is an absolute certainty, we will die (Ecclesiastes 3:2;  Hebrews 9:27). Hence the need to make adequate preparation for that day when we shed these earthly bonds and fly away to the eternity that awaits (Acts 17:30-31; Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

At a very early age my mother taught me a child’s prayer:

“Now I lay me down to sleep,  I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take”

While this is known as a child’s prayer, I believe there is something in it that serves as a most solemn warning to all of us. It just seems to this writer that countless numbers of people are expecting the day of their death to bring about some kind of extraordinary change for them that they will not make while alive. Many are those who have heard the gospel of Christ proclaimed time and time again and will say that they believe in God yet continue to reject his word. Great masses of people expect to stand before their God in the judgment and hear that they have been forgiven when they have not been obedient to him (Heb. 5:8-9; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; 2 John 9). God’s laws are inviolate; don’t expect to be saved eternally without complying with them (Matt. 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). After death it will be too late to believe. too late to repent, too late to confess, too late to be baptized for remission of sins (Mark 16:16: Acts 2:38: Rom. 10:10; Acts 22:16). After death it will be too late to do those things we know we should do (James 4:17, 1 Cor. 15:58); too late to be faithful (Rev.2:10). After death it will be too late to do those things that will put you into Christ. Hear Paul as he proclaims, “behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). To die out of Christ and expect to be saved eternally is to expect the impossible. One day you were somebody’s little boy, somebody’s little girl and perhaps you were taught to pray this child’s prayer. Today, even though you are no longer a little boy or little girl, if you are in Christ, you can pray this little prayer with a fervent knowing that one day this weak, frail human body will be changed into a body most glorious (1 Cor. 15:42-58).

To God be the glory forever and ever.

Charles Hicks