''Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city.''. That was the warning of the angels to Lot and his family to flee Sodom before the horrifying destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19. Sodom and Gomorrah were filled with unimaginable wickedness and corruption of all kinds.
God was greatly displeased with the inhabitants of the cities. Therefore, He decided to wipe them off the face of the earth. But because of the prayer of Abraham, He gave Lot and his family the rare opportunity of escaping the annihilation of the cities. While they lingered, the angels urged them vehemently: ''Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed'' (Genesis 19:17).
The present world can be likened to Sodom and Gomorrah. It is filled with all forms of evil: rebellion against God, idolatry, murder, adultery, fornication, deceit, lying, cheating, covetousness, theft, hatred, drunkenness, pride, homosexuality, envy, heresy, profanity, witchcraft, the list is endless.
All these evils grieve God's heart because He hates sin and His eyes are too pure to behold iniquity. And just as He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their atrocities, God is going to destroy this world because of the evils that pervade it (2 Peter 3:7, 10). All sinners - those who reject the salvation of the Lord - will be cast into hellfire.
If you're a sinner, God is urging you right now to escape for your life. Flee from His impending judgment on sinners, for His judgment will be terrible. The Bible says, ''Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it'' (Isaiah 13:9). Escape now, don't delay, for the delay is dangerous (2 Corinthians 6:2).
The door of God's mercy is still open today. Tomorrow may be too late. Lot's wife missed the timing of her escape and she forever became a historic pillar of salt. She didn't obey the command to escape when she needed to. She turned back when other members of the family ran for their lives, and she didn't live to tell the story of what made her look back.
Like Lot's wife, many people are suffering in hell right now because they mistimed their escape or neglected God's warning to escape for their lives. They procrastinated or were adamant when the warning came to them through the preaching of the Gospel and died when they never expected. They shut the door of God's mercy against themselves forever. How sad!
Friend, don't make the same mistake they made. Don't mistime your escape. NOW is the time to escape, NEXT TIME may be a bad time. And don't be adamant about the warning to escape for your life; for the person that is ''often reproved [but] hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy'' (Proverbs 29:1).
How do you escape from your life? Jesus is the way of escape. He says, ''I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me'' (John 14:6). Only in Him can you find safety for your soul. So, come to Him now and be saved. How? Take the following steps. Admit you are a sinner, confess and repent of your sins, believe God has forgiven you, accept Jesus as your Lord SBD Saviour, and start living a new life in Him as the Bible commands. Read the Bible daily, obey what you read, and join a Bible-believing church. May the grace of God keep you to the end of time in Jesus Christ's mighty name, amen.
IT HAPPENS EVERYDAY
The death toll is increasing.
It is approximated that 56.6 million people around the world die every year; 155,000 people die every day, 6,500 people die every hour; 107 people die every minute; and nearly 2 people die every second. These statistics may be scary, but they underline two facts. One, death is an appointment everyone must keep, an inevitable event we will all have to face someday, whether we are ready for it or not. Two, people die every day whether they are young or old, rich or poor. Death is no respecter of age or person and doesn't give any warning before it strikes. The Bible says, ''To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die'' (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).
Death is the end of all human effort, the night falling on everything you labor for on the surface of the earth (John 9:4). It is the separation of the human spirit from the body, the beginning of a new beginning that has no end, the passage into an endless eternity. Many people are afraid of death because they don't know what awaits them beyond the grave. When people die, they either go to Heaven or hell depending on the kind of life they had lived while on earth.
Life on earth is short and uncertain (James 4:14), and every single breath you take is a gift from God. You may think you will live long because of the good health you are enjoying now, but that decision is not in your hands; death comes when it wills. Some people wake up in the morning, feeling strong and healthy, but by evening, they are no more. Death comes to many unexpectedly and suddenly because they never thought of it. The question to you is, have you prepared yourself for death? Beyond that, have you considered your afterlife?
Yes, there is life after death, but sadly people prepare for many important events but don't take the time to think or prepare for their departure from the earth. This shouldn't be your case. Since you know that death is certain and you don't know when it will be your turn to die, you need to prepare for it today. Hebrews 9:27 says unequivocally, ''It is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment. '' This means that once death comes, it becomes too late to prepare for eternity; God's judgment is set. The rich man and Lazarus found this statement to be true when they died (Luke 16: 19-31). No adjustment can be made once you pass on to the great beyond.
Are you ready for this inevitable appointment? If death comes now, are you ready? Are you prepared for life after death? Have you surrendered to Jesus? As a sinner, if you die in your sin, you will face God's judgment and everlasting damnation in hellfire. But you don't have to die for your sin. Why will you be doomed forever when Jesus has paid the price for your sin and obtained eternal redemption for you?
Now is the time to prepare, tomorrow may be too late and delay may be dangerous. Don't procrastinate and waste the various opportunities God is bringing your way. Confess and repent of your sins, believe and accept the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Don't live your life as if there is no day of reckoning. Live each day as though it is your last.
Death is certain, but when you are well prepared, you will not fear it. When it comes, it will be a graduation from life on earth to God's glory in Heaven. What are you waiting for? Take care of the matter now because the end is near and certain.
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