They Don’t Know What’s Coming

My daughter recently shared something that was on her heart. She doesn’t often speak in front of people so when she does, you most certainly should listen! She spoke about a day that she was driving home from work and it had been a long hard day. She passed a pasture that was full of steers that were being fed out for a feed lot.

She said the steers were running and bucking and playing all across that pasture and she thought about how they were running and playing without a care in the world, but they also had no idea of what was ahead of them. They had no idea what was coming!

See steers, their lives, have an expiration date. From the moment they become a steer, the countdown is on to get them fed and fattened for slaughter. They will likely be sold to a feed lot where they will be fed in order to become a steak for you one day or the hamburger that you will order from your favorite restaurant. But on that day, they were running and playing without a care in the world, with no idea to what was coming.

Every day we meet people and are surrounded by people, who are running and playing, bucking and having a good time without a care in this world! They are living for today. They are living for what feels good; they are doing what feels right in their own eyes, with no idea of what’s coming! For the Christian, we know what’s coming. We know that the day is coming, and it is close, that Jesus will return for his bride, the church. He expects us to be ready and waiting for Him and watching for His return. 1 Thes 4:16-18

At His return, those who are ready will be called to the wedding celebration, but those who remain will have a time of judgment. The Bible calls it separating the sheep from the goats or the great white throne judgment. We will all be judged one day for what we’ve done and who we’ve been. There’s only one difference. For those of us who know what is coming, we have an advocate with the judge. When it comes time for us to stand before that great white throne judgment, our Savior, Jesus Christ, who we have accepted, will step in as our advocate, our attorney. He will say “Father, I paid the price for them,” and we will walk into eternity to celebrate and live with Him forever and ever.

For those who have not accepted Jesus as their Savior, He will not be able to stand as their advocate because they’ve not accepted Him. At that moment, the Father, the judge, will say “Depart from me. I never knew you,” and they will enter into a judgment for eternity that was not intended for them. That judgment was intended only for Satan and those who chose to follow him from Heaven. Unfortunately, there will only be two choices that day. Matthew 25:31-45

There are lots of people in our world today that are saying that there are a lot of options and lots of ways. There are lots of genders. There are lots of ways to heaven; there are many gods. But in the end, only God‘s way will matter. There will only be one way and those that were wrong will stand before Him in the great white throne judgment and they will say, “But I didn’t know.” I don’t want them to look at me and say, “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me this was coming? Why didn’t you help me?”

It is our job on this earth to be His voice and to be His witnesses. It is our job to tell them what’s coming. Once we tell them, and once we show them the way, the decision is theirs. But we have to show them the way. We have to live a life that points His direction and shows others what is coming.

As you drive through the world today, you are passing pastures just like my daughter saw. You are passing people every day at your job, in the grocery store and at the gas pump next to you. Do they know what’s coming? Have you shown them the way?