The Last Divine Appointment

“We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds” -Thomas Watson

Every night we prepare ourselves for bed. Everyone has a routine of some sort for this appointment. Some not only get ready for sleep but they also prepare early for the next day. When my daughter was little she always wanted to pick out her outfit for the next day. She would even pick the minor details of what she would wear like her bracelets or hair bands. Everything had to be just right.

We end the day ready for a night of sleep while putting the reality of death in the furthest parts of our mind. We expect to wake in the morning and continue on. I’m not suggesting going to bed every night with death on your mind, just putting the thought out there so you may think more carefully about life in a more responsible and eternal way.

We all have a divine appointment that we cannot escape. The bed of death that will hold our bodies will one day open up and we will rise to meet our maker. Have you spent time preparing for this appointment as you do for sleep? Have you given thought of what will happen that day, what will be required of you when you meet Him?

For the believer this appointment is one we wait for. This day we will see all the promises of God come to full fruition. We will be in the presence of God for eternity. We will stand before the one who hung on the cross and died for us, and we will be welcomed home.

For those outside of Christ this will be a different kind of appointment altogether. They will stand before the judgement seat of the King of kings and be found guilty. Their end is the way of punishment in hell for eternity. No purgatory, no second chance to right your wrongs, no mercy. The judgement of God will fall upon you and overthrow you.

We can be 100% sure of this divine appointment. We may not wake in the morning but we will rise from the grave one day either covered by the righteousness of Christ or condemned. Take care not to prepare just for a night’s sleep alone. Jesus proclaimed in Mark 1:15 ““The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel”.

Your only hope is in Christ. Your bed may be of comfort to you for a few short hours at night but your grave will give you up one day and your bed will have you no more. You will be swallowed up by death and will reside “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” Mark 9:46.

Thinks about this quote from Jonathan Edwards, “The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood“. What a dreadful image to have on your mind while you prepare your bed. What a dreadful reality it will be for many. Today is the day of mercy, repent of your sins, believe on Christ and flee from the wrath to come.