William J. Schroeder, the recipient of the second mechanical heart, exclaimed exultantly from his hospital bed that the machine was "just a-pumping away" and it felt "like an old-time threshing machine." He added happily, "I've got ten years!"
Ten years—tethered to a plastic and metal pump.
Ten years—monitored and watched over and protected, surrounded always by medical technology, even though the best that science can offer.
Ten years—of life?
Yes, life. Not the way he would choose to live, but still life. "All that a man hath will he give for his life." Job 2:44And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. (Job 2:4). The human heart clings to life, struggles to live; sometimes we hear that "only the will to live" is keeping someone alive after all hope is gone, medically.
But ten years. One decade. The Seventies, for instance. That was one decade, and it wasn't so very long ago. We can remember it, can't we? And looking back, it doesn't seem very long. Will the next decade be longer? No.
The older we get, the faster the years fly by. "Soon shall I find, in passing on Time gone!" Then what?
Then, for us, time will cease to be. The old clocks will still be ticking, the days and months and years will be going on, but we shall have passed on into the timelessness of eternity.
And then?
Then LIFE, eternal life, "life everlasting," if we have received "the gift of God" which is "eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23).
Yes, that is what God has promised to all who will believe in His Son. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
What are ten years—or twenty years—or a lifetime—compared to that?
But there is the other side. While it is true that "he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," it is equally true that: "he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36).
You may not have ten years. You may not have even one year. If you have not already made your future sure do it now. Don't delay. Don't take a chance with your eternal existence.