Imagine

Checkout Time!
(or "What really happens when you die?")

SheepTrax© by Bryan Hupperts
Hi. We've never met, but we will.

Allow me to introduce myself to you. No, this is not some criminal death
threat or sick joke and, yes, I'm the Grim Reaper, and we have a date
scheduled. I will be coming for you because, "it is appointed unto all men
once to die and after this, the judgment." Depending on you, I can be your
best friend or worst nightmare. Death is a shrouded issue for the living, so
let me share a few cryptic insights and tell you what really happens when you
die.

Remember the Adam and Eve story? Well, it really happened. God warned them
that "the wages of sin are death," but did they listen? Noooo, they didn't.
God always keeps His promises, and they were promptly barred from Paradise.
Up to that point, I was unemployed, but after Adam sinned, Death entered into
the world, and I've been working overtime.

God made you a little lower than the angels as a little replica of Himself.
Because you are made in His image, you have free will. You can make moral
decisions and can choose between good and evil. Your daddy Adam blew it by
listening to the lies of the one who screwed up what used to be a perfectly
good universe.

Yes, there is a real devil to contend with. Call him Satan, Lucifer, the old
serpent himself - whatever the title - he is twisted and evil to the core.
Sin began somewhere in his heart. It's his one original achievement and he's
quite proud of it. His moral insanity deluded him into thinking that the
universe wasn't big enough for both God and him so he rebelled. Guess who
lost?!

Satan hates everything that God loves and that includes you. Get the
fundamental conflict here? Light and darkness can't get along - It's
unnatural. And the problem for man is that Adam, lord over God's creation,
sold out to Satan and lost his birthright, and died spiritually. As his
descendant, you inherited a family trait, namely, spiritual death.

Now, I've been around for a long time, and have made acquaintance of, oh,
everyone who has ever lived. Call it professional pride, but I have never
missed an appointment. And because sin is in the world, and death through
sin, you and I will meet. My schedule is confidential, so don't ask when; but
be sure I will be coming for you.

Understand that both heaven and hell are real places. Satan has done a lot of
PR to obscure this truth to keep you from preparing for the afterlife. Some
of his more popular lies include:

If you do more good than bad, you go to heaven
If you're a good and moral person, you go to heaven
Only really bad criminals go to hell
Hell will be a fun place where you get to party with your friends
(ugh, ever try to party in a blast furnace?)
And then there are those dippy cultists who teach that when you die, poof!
That's it. You cease to exist. The grave is the end. When they die, and we
meet, they share this same befuddled expression of stunned disbelief, and are
always the most surprised guys in hell. You were made in the image of the
external God and you do exist forever.

I said earlier that I can be your best friend or worst nightmare. Here's why.
I'm really nothing more than a glorified doorman. I assist at checkout time
by opening the door to the eternal home that you choose. And there are only
two options. Life has many issues to resolve, but the critical decision is
this:

What will you do with Jesus Christ?

Meeting me is not the big event in life. Meeting Jesus is! He said, "I have
come that you might have life more abundantly." That empty place in your
heart was made to be filled by God Himself, because Jesus is the WAY, the
TRUTH, and the LIFE. Get it?

If you know Jesus as the way, you can't get lost.
If you know Him as the truth, you can't be deceived.
If you know Him as the life, death can't hurt you.
You have a date with destiny coming, and I'm your escort. And this doesn't
have to be a blind date because you pick the destination!

The Bible says, "Choose this day whom you will serve," and "I set before you
blessing and cursing, life and death. Choose life that you may live."

Choosing life means choosing Jesus who is LIFE. He is God Almighty packaged
as a man. He came to earth with a single mission to accomplish: to die in
your place to make payment for your debt of sin. He came to seek and save
that which was lost.

You.

I was there when they nailed Him to that cross and I saw Him die. And I was
there when He went into Hell and took the keys to death, hell and the grave
from Satan. And I saw Him raised from the dead on the third day in victory. I
don't ordinarily lose clients, but it was impossible for me to hold Him. And
if Jesus is in your heart, I won't be able to hold you either.

Jesus said, "You must be born again." A new birth occurs in your heart when
you confess your sin and lost condition to God, and ask Jesus to be the Lord
of your life. A Christian is someone who gives their heart to Jesus and never
takes it back.

Well, duty calls. Everyone's a client and today's schedule is full. I have to
go but we'll meet again. So long as sin is in the world, I have an appointed
task to perform. I'm not a bad guy, really. If you receive Jesus into your
heart, I would be honored to escort you to see Him the moment you die. And if
you reject Him and His sacrifice on the cross, well, I will still be coming
for you.

Your earthly life is a vapor; here one minute and gone the next. Even if you
live to be 95 years old, your body will finally wear out and die. What will
it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul?

Sooner or later, I'll be seeing you.

Your friend or foe,

The Grim Reaper

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever would believe in Him would have everlasting life." John 3:16

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

Holy, Holy, Holy;

Lord God of Hosts;

Heaven and earth are full of

Thy Glory.

Hallowed be Thy Name in Industry:

God be in my hands and in my

making.

Hallowed be Thy Name in the Arts:

God be in my senses and in my

creating.

Hallowed be Thy Name in the Home:

God be in my heart and in my

loving.

Hallowed be Thy Name in Commerce:

God be at my desk and in my

trading.

Hallowed be Thy Name in Suffering:

God be in my pain and in my

enduring.

Hallowed be Thy Name in Government:

God be in my plans and in my

deciding.

Hallowed be Thy Name in Education:

God be in my mind and in my

growing.

Hallowed be Thy Name in Recreation:

God be in my limbs and in my

leisure.

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