After this

Some people seem to get along pretty well in this world without God. Without believing in God. Without acknowledging Him at all. Although, I honestly do not know what they do when disaster strikes and they need someone bigger than themselves. Some would call me weak for saying that, but I admit, I need God.

The elephant in the room is: What about the afterlife? The moment their eyes are closed here on earth and they've taken their last breath? After this, what is there?

Others are still believers but don't go to church anymore. People who never missed church a few years ago, now do not attend. Just this morning someone told me, "I work every day except Sunday and Monday so I stay home and sleep in on Sunday. In the afternoon, I watch Pastor Allen."

Jesus said as the end times near we should "forsake not the assembling of ourselves together" (Heb 10:25). In Luke 12 you'll find a word picture of the end times when people will begin to say, in their heart, "My Lord delays His coming" ... and they begin to relax and give place to self. They don't speak it, but say it in their heart.

"But," Luke says, "The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he's not looking for Him, and at an hour when he is not aware ..." (Luke 12:5-46 paraphrase). It's easy in these current times to be overwhelmed. I know that. I feel that way sometimes, too. A lot is going on in this world. It's hard to even focus on all the changes, but there is a great verse in Psalms 61:1-4 that says, "Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee. When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I."

The only one we can safely put our trust in is Jesus. And, do we really want to take a chance on wandering away from the fold? Going to church will not save us. But it should encourage us.

Back to the unbeliever: A person can be in the position of not believing in Jesus and therefore not believing in hell, but the truth is, you cannot be certain there was no Jesus and no hell. The unknown can be a scary position so, although, a person may slide through life fairly easy, without Jesus, it's the afterlife that should get our attention. Jesus talked a lot about hell so we can safely assume, it's a real destination and a place man goes if he/she doesn't believe in Jesus.

Whether a person believes it or not, may not matter other than the fact that something is past this life. There is an afterlife. Whatever it is, one is better equipped to face it if they have a heart that loves God before they pass through that final tunnel.