Last Sunday my wife and I returned from a trip to Nashville. We were there in the recording studio while a country music song I co-wrote was being recorded. When we arrived back home and went through the mail we discovered that a friend of mine had passed away.
A young man of 56 years, always in good health, exercising regularly and keeping his weight in good shape all the time, suddenly and unexpectedly was gone. In the middle of the sadness and shock, a thought came to mind: I wondered if he was "ready."
Are you ready for that day?
When that day will come for me I want to be ready in a variety of ways.
I want to be sure that I've put things in order for my wife so that she'll be taken care of when I'm gone. I want to be sure that my children and grandchildren know that I loved them. I want to be sure that there are no loose ends relationally. I want to be sure that to the extent humanly possible, the wrongs I've done in this life have been righted, apologies given, relationships restored. I want to be sure that the paper trail of my life says, "This was a life well lived."
Most importantly I want to be sure that I'm right with the Lord in terms of eternity.
We are eternal beings. When our bodies die, our spirits live on. That is what the Bible teaches. God has a preferred destination for each of our spirits, and it is heaven. Know that if you are reading this today, heaven is God's preferred destination for you when this life is over.
But how to be ready? How to get there?
That path is clearly laid out in the Bible in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life."
God gave his Son Jesus Christ, so that Christ could pay for all the "I'm not ready" parts of our life, that is to say, so he could pay for our sins so we don't have to.
If you have never said "yes" to God's offer of forgiveness, let me encourage you to do so today. The precise words aren't the issue, but the meaning behind them is. Here's a sample prayer which if said with genuine sincerity (meaning you have to mean it), makes you ready to meet the Lord and will start you on a path in this life of walking with him now.
If you want to be sure you are headed for heaven when you die, sincerely pray this prayer:
"Lord, I confess to you today that I'm a sinner and that I have sinned. I don't deserve heaven, but am grateful that you have made a way for my sins to be forgiven so I can go to be with you there in heaven when I die. I ask that you forgive me through Christ. What I mean Lord is what you have laid out in the Bible, that if I repent of my sins and put my faith in Christ's death and resurrection and payment for my sins, that I will be forgiven and will go to heaven when I die. Please do forgive me through Christ. I put my faith in him and ask that you fill me with your Holy Spirit so I can begin to walk with you now by faith until the day I see you face to face. I pray this in the name of Jesus who is now my Lord. Amen"
Friend, I can tell you on the authority of the Bible, that if you pray that prayer and mean what it says, you are on your way to heaven. You are "ready."
Don't wait until it is too late. Put your spiritual house in order while you can. You will never regret doing so.
