Are You Ready To Meet God?

Are You Ready To Meet God?

Being Prepared Means Everything

Life does not exist in the abundance of possessions.

In the parable of the Rich Fool, we learn that a covetous (greedy) spirit blinds our minds from seeing true life while offering a false sense of security. It obscures the unforeseen and dreadful consequences awaiting all who are unprepared to meet God face-to-face.

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ ²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:14-21)

It is implicit that the rich man trusted only in his material world of wealth and was very successful at acquiring riches. In them, he sensed great comfort and rest from all his cares, for his abundance of possessions promised the good life had finally arrived. “I’ll say to myself, you have plenty… eat, drink be and be merry.”

This parable follows Jesus’ admonition to guard against all kinds of greed or covetousness, but we must note that greed or covetousness is not limited to the wealthy. One can be poor or middle-class and still be greedy while lacking the talent or opportunity to accumulate the riches they so deeply covet. Suffice it to say that not all greedy people are wealthy and not all wealthy people are greedy. Nevertheless, Jesus seized the moment to warn us to guard against the sin of covetousness and its deceptive promise of a life that it is powerless to produce.

The rich fool by this world’s standards was a successful man, but all his wealth and success fell short of real life. His mind is clouded by human reasoning, void of spiritual understanding. He assumes that in his abundance of possessions he has life, but he is mistaken. He is trusting in a false premise that is both popular and deceptive among the unsaved. For even though he may acquire the entire world of riches and possessions, with them he could not purchase one minute of eternal life. Moreover, it is often by unexpected circumstances that death suddenly overtakes those who are ill-prepared to meet God; “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.”

If life does not exist in the abundance of possessions, in what does it exist?

All the infinite power of creation, the secret knowledge of the universe, and all that exist and consist is held together by the life-giving power of our Creator. God alone is the source and creator of all life. Life is in God and without Him, there is no life. Without God, we would not exist and there would be nothing. He is life and the source of all life. Speaking of this abundant life the apostle John writes:

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

There is no real and lasting life outside of the life God provides to those who love Him. Jesus is the life beyond the grave. He is the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Him will live, even though they physically die; and whoever lives through believing in Him will never die. They will enter into eternal life.

It is important to understand that there are two kinds of life, natural life, and eternal life. Our physical natural life is limited by our time on earth. It is temporary in nature and when it is over, it’s over. At death’s door, we enter eternity—either eternal life or eternal death. Our eternal destiny is determined by our relationship with the Son of God. Those who have turned to Christ and received true spiritual life while on earth and are truly born again will enter into eternal life with the Lord. All others who ignored or rejected Jesus’ call to repentance and salvation will be eternally lost (Rev. 20:15).

The life that Christ offers is supernatural and invisible to the natural eye, but evidence of its presence can be seen through the outward words and actions of those who truly possess this life. The apostle Paul tells us of a mystery that was not understood in times past but is clearly revealed to us now—”Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷ To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:26-27)

To some folks, the mystery of Christ coming to live inside their hearts and imparting true life, real life, and everlasting life remains a mystery. They are too busy building a life for themselves that has every appearance of life but unfortunately is void of true eternal life that only Christ gives to all who turn to Him in repentance. This is the greatest tragedy that one will ever know, to ignore or reject the life Christ freely offers to all who call on His name.

If you have not received true forgiveness and new life in Christ, I would urge you to turn to Jesus?

You may be interested in this blog also: Are You Really Born Again?