Imagine embarking upon the great adventure of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane to plummet toward the earth at bone crushing speeds only to break your fall at the last moment by deploying a parachute, tightly packed by a complete stranger into a well worn backpack and strapped to your posterior. While in the plane, approaching the so-called “target” (as if there were a great bullseye painted on the ground which the plane’s crew intends to hit with their soft projectile—you), your life starts to pass before your eyes. To make matters worse, your instructor seems to have had too much sugar, or something, for breakfast and is in a rather giddy mood. He jokingly encourages you to “enjoy your final descent” and “be sure to pull the ripcord before the impact.” You start to second guess your quest for the ultimate adrenaline rush, thinking rather that the inherent “fight or flight” response that you are presently experiencing may just suffice to satisfy your present thirst for adventure. Maybe you’re not ready for this!
While we are on the subject of being ready, and with all jesting aside, there is an unavoidable event that comes to all mankind that can be quite foreboding if one is not “Ready.” I am talking about death, and that which lies beyond the perimeters of our physical perception. The Bible says that you are a living soul, and while your body will wear out, your soul will never die. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)” And then God has informed us that, “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)
This is no joking matter; you need to know that you are ready for the great adventure that awaits you at the end of your path. Those who are ready have had their sins forgiven, and are enjoying a relationship with God that will last forever. Those who are not ready are missing out on the joys of knowing God now, and will suffer the eternal consequences of their unforgiven sin in a realm without God. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved… (Acts 16:31)”