Saturday, April 24, 2010

2010 – April 24 – Questions at Death’s Door

Study from God’s Word Psalms 88, 91, 95, 108, and 109 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 88: 3, 10-12 … NIV 3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave [Sheol] … 10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah 11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? 12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

My Journal for Today: Today’s lesson from Dr. Smith, in his devotional book, is an interesting one to ponder. In a nutshell, his question could be summarized thusly: "Have I considered the afterlife and trust God to the point that the details concerning heaven or hell don’t matter?"

Smith reminds his readers that even the most adamant of atheists very likely ponder, at some point in their life, if their gamble in rejecting God and Christ is right. Blaise Pascal, the 17th Century French mathematician and philosopher, posited his “wager,” which had the atheist placing his wager on the side of the fool because it’s so much better to pin your eternal future on God than on nothing. What, Pascal wagered, does one lose to believe, hold, and declare that all Christ did on that cross was real and had eternal implications, rather than to believe and declare that Christianity holds no meaning for mankind? It made no sense for Pascal to hold a faith wager as did the atheist; and so he decided it best to place all his faith in Christ.

Yes, we all need to ponder the implications of betting our eternal life on Christ or on nothingness. Where have you, my dear reader, placed your bet? Are you, as I once was in my life, putting all your chips in the box of the atheist, betting that there is nothing beyond the grave, as the roulette wheel of life spins it’s way down to a stop? Or are you, as I did in 1983, deciding to believe that Christ had to have been the real deal; and the only way to go is to choose to place all your chips on the resurrection of Christ and let that roulette wheel, we call life, run out, believing and living as if Christ died for our sins and He awaits us in Heaven to spend our eternity with Him?

Where are you laying your bet, my friend? Mine is on Christ!!!

My Prayer for Today: LORD, my eternal wager is all with You; and I will live my life out knowing that in the next life I will be with You for all eternity. Amen

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