We all have upcoming appointments. I just had one yesterday and three more scheduled. We need always to be ready … to be prepared … to make sure everything is in order. If not, we may find ourselves unable to participate in whatever we are there for … whatever is going on. If we are unprepared then we are wasting out time and someone else’s.

We all have one appointment and we only get one shot at it. If we are unprepared for this appointment we will find out that the result is not good … not something we will welcome. Yes, everyone of us have this same appointment. I just finished looking at the obituaries in the newspaper online. Every person listed there just had their appointment and I bet most of them were not prepared for it. One thing about this appointment is that we have no way of knowing just when it will happen. We may know that we are close to it if we are on our deathbed. But most of us don’t have a clue that our appointment with death is near.

The Holy Scriptures (God’s Word) declares that “It is appointed unto man once to die …”. (Hebrews 9:27) We only get one chance at life … not several. There is no such thing as reincarnation. Did you notice that that verse I quoted went on …? The rest of the verse says “… after that comes the judgement”. That is right. When we die we will stand in God’s judgement. Do you have a defense attorney to represent you then? There is only one defense attorney that is available. In fact, He is also the prosecuting attorney. His Name is Jesus Christ.

You may know Him as a swear word only. If that is the case you are off to a bad start. That is sin and sin condemns you. But there is good news. All sin but the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can be forgiven. If you are prepared for your upcoming appointment with death and judgement Jesus will defend you, but if you are not prepared He will only be your prosecutor as your sentence has already been determined and announced. Sadly not very many people percentage-wise pay any attention to God’s warning. They go thru their entire life unprepared for their upcoming appointment.

If you knew you were going to be taking a trip you would surely pack for it ahead of time. There are certain things you would want to pack in a bag or suitcase to take along with you. That is only common sense. Yet when it comes to eternity many are not prepared. When you reach your upcoming appointment there is no time to pack … to prepare. If all we have to show for our entirety of life is our sin we will be in big trouble. Scripture says that “the wages of sin is death …” (Romans 6:23) and like the first verse I quoted this verse also goes on “… but the gift of God is eternal life thru Jesus Christ”. Jesus is the only way to the Father. We must confess our sin and need of salvation … and be willing to stop sinning. It is that simple. Jesus stands ready to forgive us and cleanse us from our sin so that we may be right with God … so that we are prepared to face Him in judgement when our upcoming appointment arrives. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off. Get prepared now. Your upcoming appointment may be quite soon.