We knew of a woman who had, all her life, prided herself on strictly acting upon her favorite motto: “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.” She was rich and spent her time in luxurious travel, mostly in Europe.
After a long, God-forgetting course, advancing years caused her to return to England to be nearer her relatives. Soon came failing health, and then she found that having gratified herself to the full in carrying out the first part of her cherished motto she must now, however reluctantly, face the unwelcome latter half of it: “TOMORROW WE DIE.”
Her relatives became anxious about her soul and sent for a woman who was known as a “plain-talking Christian.” She spoke to the dying woman solemnly about soul-need and eternal realities, but, sad to say, the only reply was, “Oh, I am not going to die yet, for I mean to eat and drink and have a merry time of it!”
But her “merry time” was almost at an end. She had exhausted the “merry” first half of her motto and had now to enter upon the dreaded reality expressed in those three words: “Tomorrow we die.”
The bitter quickly followed the sweet, for very soon afterwards she sank into unconsciousness from which she never returned. The morrow came; she died.
A person may live without Christ and without hope in the world, but at the end he will find it “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:3131It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)). God is not to be mocked. This woman, with her almost unlimited means, could easily gratify herself all over the world in accomplishing the first of that dreadful motto, but all the money in the world could not have saved her from the unwelcome second part of it.
What is still more solemn is that after death comes the still more dreaded judgment. Yes, the judgment! A dying atheist once said that he had plenty of courage to die, but that what made him a coward was the “afterward,” for which he was not prepared. We must all meet God, either in the day of His saving grace or in the coming day of His righteous judgment.
The Apostle Paul had this motto: “To me to live is Christ.” His life illustrated his motto, and he departed to be “with Christ; which is far better.”
The woman that we have referred to had hers. In substance it was this: “For me to live is self-gratification; to die - oh, forget it!”
Nevertheless - she died.
What is your motto? What are you living for? Is it for Christ or for yourself? If for yourself, we would warn you, in all love, to beware lest at your closing hour God has to say to you what He said to that rich farmer of old: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:2020But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (Luke 12:20)). Yes, even of you!