Why Wait?

There comes a  certain point in time for everyone, even Christians, when we all ask ourselves if we've made the right decisions.  Sometimes this certain point in time is at the end of our lives. I've seen in dying peoples eyes, who were not Christians, the fear of death overshadowed only by the terrifying certainty that what they've denied GOD their whole lives HE now might deny them.  In so many ways, the fear of imminent death is the great equalizer.  When someone knows that their time is short, all the posturing and worldly based arguments against either the existence of and/or the need for GOD are discarded.  It's sad to say that this doesn't happen all of the time, there are people who are so deeply saturated with satan's poisons that even the certainty of death doesn't faze them.  Then there are the times that death comes in an instant, like in a car wreck or some other kind of accident or when someone is killed by another person.  Of all of these situations in which [physical] death is the end result, it's when a non-Christian dies instantly or without a last chance to come to the Throne of Grace that bothers me the most.  I'll give you a good example of why I feel so frustrated and helpless during these times.  A couple of years ago, a good friend of ours learned that a friend of hers who had been sick for several years had passed.  I knew the fellow, and he was a real piece of work to say the least.  Because of the kind of man he was, this friend of ours asked me to pray for him after he'd passed.  It surprised her when I refused, but I believe it also shocked her into reality when I explained that if he didn't make the decision for Christ before he died, no amount of prayers would do him any good at all.  If you'll remember, Jesus told one of His disciples to 'let the dead bury the dead.'  His point was that we serve a living GOD, and we are a living people.  The frustration and helplessness I mentioned earlier is because GOD has made it so easy for us to come to Him through His Son, who even died in our place.  The 'new and better Covenant'  undid all of the restrictions and biases held by the Old Testament Worshipper so that all can equally come to the Throne [of Grace].

'Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.'  (Acts 4:12    NKJV)

For such a relatively short verse, this piece of Scripture is loaded with information, literally life-saving information.  First we read about the exclusiveness of Christ as Savior.  Then we have the equally good news concerning the inclusiveness of His life-giving act.  Like I stated earlier, all of the restrictions and biases established by Old Testament Scripture and traditions of man were washed away by the same blood that washes away the stain and condemnation of sin from the New Testament Believer.

So, I'll wrap this up with a question, and I'm the first to admit that it's the same question that's been asked for the last two thousand years.

Why would anyone not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior?  I've heard so many people justify their denial of Him with every excuse from they don't believe He exists to they'll check Him out when they're ready to settle down.  So many never have that chance to 'check Him out' because their life will end suddenly.  I'll leave you with this one last thought, and that is it isn't a safe bet to put off turning your life over to Christ until the last minute for at least two reasons I can think of.  First, you may not have a last minute.  Second, would someone coming to Christ at the end of their life still come to Him if they weren't facing death?  This is a question that could very well determine, for GOD, whether that person was sincere, or just trying to 'pad their bet'.