The Final Bell

The final bell rings for each of you at the end of your life. The shadow of death hangs over you and every other soul on earth. No matter how you might want to avoid the issue of your own death, you will die. You can easily tell yourself that your time is far off in the future. You can lie to yourself and tell yourself death will not happen to you. You can try to avoid the issue of your death by pushing it out of your mind by not thinking about dying. However, no matter how much or how hard you run away from the final bell, the bell will ring. When your last moments come and the bell rings will your face be turned toward the Son of God who is waiting and smiling as He waits to embrace you in Heaven? Or, will your face be downcast in shame and regret as Heaven remains far away and you are thrown into an outer darkness of torment? When the final bell rings, will you be ready to meet the Master in a gargantuan celebration of the angels in Heaven? Or, will your heart burn as if consumed by fire, as you look across at Paradise from your prison cell in outer darkness. When your moment of death arrives, will your soul sail to the eternal beauty of Heaven? Or, will your soul scream out from the horrible darkness of death for just a little of God's love? Will your soul scream out to God like a person dying of thirst who begs for just a drop of water on the tongue? When the final bell rings will your eyes and soul light up as you survey the wonders of Heaven or will your soul be trapped in the stinking fecal stench of hell? Upon your death will you hear the angels sing or will you be forced to listen to the tortured cries and wails of souls burning forever and ever with no relief?

Do not delude yourself into thinking there is no hell. You know from your own short time on Earth that hell raises up and consumes people, places, countries, and nations here on earth. Look around you and you readily see hell burning in the lives of people here and now. If there is hell on earth here and now, surely you must know, that hell exists in the hereafter. You can avoid thinking about your final bell as long as you like but you cannot avoid the ringing. You cannot avoid being judged by Almighty God. When the bell rings your judgment day comes. When your soul has left your body where will your soul come to rest? Will Christ meet your soul in the sky and tell His Father in Heaven, "This soul is one of mine. This soul is one of my flock. This soul turned away from the in-born sin that plagues every man, woman, and child. This soul has been redeemed by the blood I shed on the Cross because this soul accepted me and invited me in."

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (NIV)

The Big Eraser

Too often, the hurt, pain, humiliation, and disappointment of this life makes people angry with God. Too often, the hurt, pain, humiliation, and disappointment in this life causes people to put off confronting the issue of their death. Even when you have had terrible circumstances in your life, the bell still rings for you. However, the Lord has a big eraser ready to erase the hurt, pain, humiliation, and disappointment of your life. In this life, you remember the hurt, pain, and disappointment but when the Lord fills your heart in the here and now your present pain is pushed out. Likewise, when you die, the suffering of this life is erased if you turn toward Christ today.

When you turn away from the darkness of this life the Lord has mysterious ways of erasing your present hurt. He does this hurt removal by filling you with His love and grace. As you turn your life over to Christ and you are able to open your heart, mind, soul, and life to Him, He is able to erase your painful emptiness with His love, mercy, grace, and compassion. This love of Christ that fills your heart in your present life is just a preview of your life in heaven. In this life, too often, people mistakenly pray that pain to be taken away. People do not realize the pain of this moment is pushed out only by what you let Christ pour in. In every circumstance of this life, Christ can pour in His love. In every terrible moment, Christ can come in and soothe the hurt and pain. As you are able to open your heart and life, Christ is able to do His great will of erasing your hurt, pain, and humiliation. Christ not only takes care of you in the present moment but He also prepares a new home for you in heaven. In this present life, the pain of your heart is pushed out or pushed aside by Christ's love and compassion. It is up to you to lay your heart at Christ's feet and prayerfully ask Him to come in. When Christ comes into your heart, He brings His love and care with Him. He does not leave you as an orphan when you invite Him in. When you invite Christ into your life, He is with you now and forever.

When the final bell rings for you then you can eternally trust Him. You can trust Christ to be with you and always be within you. When you invest your trust in Him then He is faithful and will live within you while you remain humble and contrite in His sight. While you remain and humble in His sight you have a present home and a future home in heaven where His love reigns.

In the present moment, you might try to erase the pain and hurt from the past on your own. You might use methods of counseling and therapy that are good to do to help deal with past hurts. However, you, as a human being have no way to erase the hurt, pain, and humiliation of your past. You have no way to take out the experiences of your life and put other experiences in their place. However, you do have a way to overcome these experiences and that way is to open your heart to God. When you take all your hurt to Christ hanging on the Cross, all the hurt goes away. When you take your hurt to Christ, and you are willing to turn all your life over to Him, a miraculous event that takes place within you. This miraculous event is the filling of your pain-filled and empty heart with true love of God. Not only does your measuring cup of life run over in the here and now, but you get a glimpse of what your glorious future holds when the final bell tolls for you.