Message Library

Only One Chance

Posted on

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Hebrews 9:27

This earthly life is the one and only chance we have to accept Christ and live eternally in Heaven. Once we take our last breath, our chance is gone. We can’t go back and make it right. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14) As long as we have breath in us, it’s never too late to accept Christ.

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. (John 9:4) We never know when night is coming, so use each day to live pleasing to the Lord. We will be saved if we live according to his Word, not according to childhood experiences and not always by what other Christians say. We check everything against the Word because we answer to God’s Word. At judgment, we can say my parents told me this, my minister told me that, or Christian friend told me another thing. The Lord will say, “What did I tell you in my Word?”

It’s imperative that we live by the truth of God’s Word, and not to base our salvation on our own justified understanding. Avoiding the truth puts us in a dangerous situation, because the Lord’s truth never changes and he is our judge. Any justification that keeps us from the truth, keeps us from living life to the full as promised by the Lord, and can easily jeopardize our salvation.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) Live by the truth and the Lord will set you free. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.(Galatians 5:1) The Lord frees us from slavery to the world and from Satan’s fear, worry, and anger.

Today, realize you have one chance to live by the truth and to be confident that Heaven is your home. Don’t gamble with your eternal life by believing Satan’s lies. Avoiding the truth doesn’t make judgment go away.

Prayer: Lord, guide me to live by your truth and overcome my understanding and my justification. Help me to fully surrender to your good, pleasing and perfect will, and to be free in Christ. In Jesus name, Amen