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Prepare
for Tomorrow
The
story has been told about a sailor who found himself
shipwrecked on a
South
Sea
Island. He was seized by the natives, hoisted to their
shoulders, carried to their village, and seated on
their throne.
Little
by little, he learned it was their custom each year to
make some man king for a year.
He liked this tradition a lot -- until he began
to wonder what had happened to all the former kings.
Soon he discovered that when the king's
one-year kingship ended, he was banished to a nearby
barren island, where he would then starve to death.
The sailor didn't like this idea at all, but he was
smart, and decided to enjoy his year
as king. Meanwhile,
he put his carpenters to work making boats, his
farmers to work transplanting fruit trees to the
island of exile, and other farmers growing crops
there, as well as masons building houses on the
island. When
his kingship was over, he
went not to a barren island, but to one of abundance.
This
story is a parable of life.
It teaches us that WE need to live TODAY in
view of TOMORROW, i.e. the "tomorrow" of
judgment.
"For
we must ALL appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
that each one may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or
bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
On THAT day, humanity will be divided into TWO
groups:
1) those who will inherit His eternal kingdom
and
2) those who will shall be "punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of His power" (Matthew
25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
Those
who will inherit His eternal kingdom are those who
have prepared themselves to receive it! To
prepare ourselves, the Scriptures teach that we must believe
that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 16:31), repent
of our sins (Acts 17:30-31), confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized
(immersed) for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts
2:38). We
live in constant preparation as we continue to follow
God for the rest of our lives (1 John 1:7).
Martin
Luther used to say that he had only TWO days on his
calendar:
TODAY and "THAT DAY"
-- the day when we will meet the Lord in
judgment.
Let's
live today
in the light of that
day!
Are
YOU prepared for THAT
day?
God
bless you!
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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