A SURE FUTURE

WHILE THE FUTURE IS MYSTERIOUS AND UNKNOWN, CHRISTIANS DON’T NEED TO FEAR IT.

by Roy D. Hall

I

N A RECENT Bible study with some of my college students, the subject of fear came up. “What is some- thing that you fear?” I asked. Almost immediately one person mentioned the future. And that’s not uncommon. Many people do fear the uncertainty of days ahead. Some people are planners, and it bothers them that the future is out there and they don’t have a solid grip on it. Even some Christians say they are unsure about the future. They shouldn’t be. Yes, the length of it is a mystery. I sometimes wonder about the length of my days. I assume like most folks that I’m going to be around for a long time. But there’s no promise of that. The Bible says, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14 NKJV). While the future is mysterious and unknown, Christians don’t need to fear it. Whether Jesus Christ returns soon or we experience physical death, the future is secure if Jesus is our Savior. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25 NKJV).

We shall live! We live now in the eter- nal relationship of knowing Christ, being “in him” (1 John 4:15). Since we are in Christ, then wherever He is, there we will be. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul says

believers will “always be with the Lord” (NKJV). Our “comfort” (v. 18) is in know- ing that the last breath we take in this world is the one just before the first one we take in the presence of the Lord. If you have “passed from death unto life” (1 John 3:14), the future is mysteri- ous but not to be feared. Have you made

this passage? If so, eternal life is yours. Whatever the future holds, you know who holds the future. You can boldly say, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear” (Hebrews 13:6).

Roy D. Hall is a college professor who lives in Diboll, Texas.

THE KEYS TO ETERNAL LIFE

CHRIST PAID for our salvation with His death on the cross, but for us to accept this gift is as simple as using these keys to unlock the door:

Acknowledge you have sinned

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).* “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Believe in Jesus

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who- ever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Confess and renounce your sin

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

*Scriptures are from the New International Version.

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