Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:13-14 (NKJV)
Our life here is but a vapor. Here today and gone tomorrow. These verses speak the truth though about how we approach our lives sometimes. We approach it with reckless abandon, assuming we have tomorrow. But tomorrow is promised to no one we have no idea what will happen tomorrow. The question is what happens to us after the vapor is up? Let's not sugar coat the choices. Eternal life or eternal damnation. There is no third choice. Your name will either be found in the Lamb's Book of Life, or it will not. And how exactly does the Bible refer to hell?
- "Shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2)
- "Everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:46)
- "Weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 24:51)
- "Fire unquenchable" (Luke 3:17)
- "Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish" (Romans 2:8,9)
- "Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
- "Eternal fire...the blackness of darkness for ever" (Jude 7,13)
It is eternal separation from God. Some scoff at this and question what kind of God would consign people to such suffering but what gets lost in that flawed logic is that God does not choose to send anyone to hell. People make their choices. We have to decide if we believe in God and His son Jesus Christ or not. The Gospel of Luke tells a story of a man who placed all of his value in the material possessions of this world, while a poor man named Lazarus would beg at his gates. The Bible says the rich man lived in luxury every day while the dogs licked the open sores of Lazarus. When both die, Lazarus was being comforted in heaven and here was the plight of the man who valued the temporal over the eternal, who did not consider his final destination:
In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' Luke 16: 23-24
Torment and agony. I know these are never pleasant things to discuss but one must realize what the eternal stakes are. We can put off making our decision for Christ only to find out as the rich fool did, that our life will be required of us tonight. Time and life on this planet are fleeting.
For those who are believers it is equally important that we remember exactly what we have been given by God. Even if God chose to give me nothing else the rest of this life, He has given me more than I could have asked for or deserved by promising the next life unto me. The world will purposefully blur the lines together. They will say that there are many paths to heaven but the Bible says:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
There is no wiggle room in this statement. NONE come to the Father except through the Son. The world will say we all serve the same God. That is equally untrue. There is only one true God and He is a jealous God. Don't want to believe it? Just look at the first commandment:
"You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3
