Let’s Get Ready for that Inevitable Final Trip

I took a trip last weekend to visit and preach at one of our sister churches in another state. However, I didn’t just hop in the car and go. Beforehand I had made numerous preparations for my excursion. I had made a reservation at a hotel so that I was sure of having a place to stay while I was there. I made arrangements to get a rental car to use for the long drive. I had packed my suitcase, trying to make sure I had everything I would need while I was away. And I had prayerfully prepared the message that I would be sharing with the church on Sunday morning. Such preparations are reasonable when you know you’re going to be taking a trip.

Yet why is it that many people refuse to make adequate preparation for another kind of trip they know they’re going to have to make at some point? I’m referring to the journey we’ll take when we leave this life and pass into the next. No, I’m not talking about the kind of preparations you might hear about on a TV commercial – purchasing life insurance, procuring a burial plot, or making the other arrangements in relation to your funeral. I’m talking about making sure we’re ready for what comes after death, as far as our soul’s destination and what we will face in eternity.

Some people simply refuse to think about it altogether. They know it’s coming, but they don’t want to face the reality of the end of their physical lives here on earth. Others come to terms with the fact that their time is coming – they don’t avoid the subject – but they don’t make reasonable preparation for that event. Some people just consider it an inevitable but mysterious trip which they can’t know anything about nor can get ready for. Others make a few faint efforts to prepare, but then simply hope for the best without any real assurances about their destination or their future condition.

   The Bible declares that we can have greater confidence than that regarding what awaits us when this life is over. “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” I John 5:11-13). If we are trusting Jesus as our Savior, we have life. And we don’t have to guess about what awaits us after death or simply hope for the best. We can know that our hearts are right with God and that we will enjoy the blessedness of His presence for eternity.

Furthermore, Jesus suggested that we can be making preparations for our eternal destinies by what we focus on here in this life. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).

Unless Jesus returns first, we’re all going to take this trip. Have you made your reservation through faith in Jesus and what He did for you on the cross as the sacrifice for your sins? Are you packing your bags by seeking to do God’s will and focusing on matters which have eternal value? It only makes good sense to get ready for what’s coming. Don’t leave it up to chance or merely wishful thinking. Know where you’re going and be storing up your treasures there.