Tips for Life
by Alan Bailey
How scary is that! I saw it on television just the other day. A young couple suspended over a huge ravine in New Zealand, meant to be experiencing a bungy jump—but something was going very wrong.
The two were supposed to be seated, held by a kind of harness. But the girl’s had broken and she was barely hanging on. Her boyfriend grasped a piece of the gear hoping to prevent her from falling. Down below, a long, long, way was a river bed. After what seemed an age the operators pulled them back to safety. The lady was too traumatised to speak.
Maybe it sounds a bit far-fetched, but isn’t this where we all are—hanging by a thin thread? I mean, our lives are not bullet-proof; there is no guarantee that we are safe and secure.
Think about it. Every day we see loss of life. Road carnage, house fires, people dying of a variety of diseases, freak accidents, murder and wars. Yet somehow we rest content that we won’t be affected; life will go on as usual.
Our strongest instinct
What do you think is our strongest instinct? Surely by a long way our desire to survive outstrips the rest. Every day, we are striving to survive. Why are we so concerned about our economic welfare, our safety in our homes and on the road, and, of course, our health?
Come to think of it, almost everything we do and plan to do has this element in it. We are aware of our vulnerability in a more-or-less sub-conscious way. Yet, let’s face it; we think it is someone else who will be touched by danger and death. Not so. Our lives hang by a thin thread.
And so neglect rules
It is serious business being prepared for death. But it is much more serious to be unprepared for what follows death.
The relaxed idea that all will be well, even if there is a life after death, is an urban myth. So often we hear it said at the funerals of unbelievers that the departed is looking down on proceedings now in a state of happiness. What an uninformed guess that is! I would rather listen to the voice of authority — the voice of Jesus, Son of God. He made it very plain that there is a judgment to follow death. He said that His own words would judge people (John 12:48).
If we turn away from what He has taught us, we will answer as to why we did. He also showed that there will be endless regret for those who die without being in a right standing before God (Luke 16).
More urgent than anything else is our need to call upon the one and only Saviour, Jesus Christ. If you would like to do that you can turn to page 11 and read the commitment coupon for guidance as to how to go about it.
A song says:
Life at best is very brief, like the falling of a leaf,
Like the binding of a sheaf,
Be in time.
Fleeting days are telling fast that the die will soon be cast,
And the fatal line be passed,
Be in time.