Jim, a strong young blacksmith, had been respectably and religiously trained. But he had begun drinking, and squandered all he had earned. He was fast becoming a drunkard, when he awoke one morning with severe palpitation of the heart. Alarmed by his feelings he hastened to a doctor, who told him to go home, rest quietly, and take the medicine prescribed by him.
"If I've got to die I may as well be at my work as lying idle on my bed," Jim thought; and so, despite the doctor's orders, to his forge he went.
There amid the sounds of the roaring fire and the ringing anvil he sought to forget his danger. But still the question pressed itself upon him, "If you should die, what then?"
Working all the harder, he tried to drown the solemn query; but all in vain. "If you should die, what then?" His conscience challenged him again and again. Work was impossible. Burdened with his sin, the fear of death and judgment, he became increasingly miserable.
Regaining strength, for twelve months he sought peace in various ways, but found none. There was no satisfaction in drink nor his usual pursuits. At length he was asked by a friend to go with him to hear the glad tidings proclaimed. Gladly he accepted the invitation.
The sweet message of God's free and full salvation for sinners through our Lord Jesus Christ was simply told.
Poor Jim saw that he was guilty before God, lost and ruined. Owning his condition, he was enabled to cast himself just as he was upon Christ, and to trust in His precious blood, which cleanseth from all sin. Joy and gladness at once took the place of his fears and misery, and Jim patiently bore witness to the saving grace of God.
Unsaved friend, let me ask you, "If you should die, what then?"
You may say, "I am young and strong and not at all likely to die." That, possibly, is the case. But face the question fairly now, "If you should die, what then?"