| Our verse to DATE the Word on December 20 (12/20) is Luke 12:20 |
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| Luke 12:20 says, “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ |
| Don’t be a FOOL with your SOUL! Life comes with an unexpected deadline and when it ends it really is just beginning as we have a soul that will continue to live for all eternity. The location of our soul is determined by a decision we make here on earth while living. Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” This judgment is not the final judgment but is the first judgment that has you either in heaven or hell at the very moment of your death. If you have made the decision to accept Christ, to believe in Christ, to confess Christ, to receive Christ, to be born again you immediately go into heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:8b says, “to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” But if you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, not believed and confessed that He died and rose again, have not trusted in Him by faith and faith alone for salvation you will perish and be in hell. With the uncertainty of a certain ending of life here on earth Scripture appeals over and over to accept Jesus now. For instance, 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” While there is uncertainty about when your life will end, let there be no uncertainty about your eternal future being in heaven. Even knowing how certain death is we still find so many putting off this decision as they have different priorities for their lives. Here is Luke 12 Jesus addresses having the wrong priorities. Having been asked to be a judge in an inheritance battle between two brothers, He gives one of the greatest life lessons we can learn as He says in Luke 12:15 to “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” This incredible life lesson is then followed with a parable about a rich man who as he enjoyed financial success found himself wanting more and more, becoming so busy he had no time to think about his soul. Instead of me telling the parable let’s read what Jesus said. Luke 12:16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ This parable could be spoken of so many people here in the 21st century, especially here in America where we have the American Dream, a dream of working to be wealthy so we can play! And maybe as you read this you are seeing yourself or seeing a family member or a friend who has made their life’s priority of getting rich in order to live a life of ease, eating and drinking, and partying all the time. It is to this wrong priority Jesus gives the SOBERING statement about there being more to this life! Jesus speaks into this man’s life and into our lives with three words BUT GOD SAID. And what did God say to this man and to us? “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?“ While preparing for and pursuing earthly pleasure he was unprepared for eternal pleasure and now will face eternal punishment. And then Jesus adds a statement of reality with the question, “then whose will those things be which you have provided.” (I can’t help but think that Jesus is taking a little jab at two brothers who are fighting over the inheritance.) While the issue of the moment is a person’s soul there comes this reality that a person made it a priority to get and get more and get even more yet when that person dies who is going to get it? There will be no u-hauls hooked up to their (your) hearse. Are you being a fool with your soul? Matthew 16:26 says, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? What are your priorities? Is FAITH #1? Are you prepared to meet God face to face? Life after death is real. There is a heaven and there is a hell. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. Are you prepared to meet God face to face as you are appointed once to die and then the judgment? Verse to DATE the Word on December 20 (12/20) is Luke 12:20. It says, “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ Don’t be a fool with your soul! Continue Strong by having prepared your soul for eternity! And remember to DATE THE WORD! |