The song ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ written by Richard Holler and recorded by Dion in 1968 came to mind yesterday when I heard of Robin Williams’ death, especially the question, ‘can you tell me where he’s gone’.   Like other years, we’ve heard of several ‘untimely’ deaths especially among celebrities or other notable people.  The circumstances and timing of these deaths always surprise us.  And though our hearts go out to the families, friends and acquaintances of these people, there is more to their stories than we read about or hear of in the media.

God says in Hebrew 9:27, ‘And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that come judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.’

First, there is an appointment for an appearance: before God.  No masks.  No hiding.  No negotiating.  No denying.  Just God.

Next, there is an appointment for an appraisal: we each must give an account to God.    No grading on the curve.  No comparisons with anyone else but Jesus.  No second chances.  Just God.

Then, there is an appointment for adoration: every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.  It’s all about Jesus.

Finally, there is an appointment for advancement: every one will be ushered to their eternal place.  You’ll either enjoy life with God through Jesus or you’ll experience separation from God because you rejected Jesus while here.

Though I feel sorry for people who feel the trauma in life that produces the kind of despair that would drive someone into desperate sorrow, I shudder at the thought that someone would reject Jesus in this life only to be faced, in death, with the inescapable reality that that earthly rejection of Him now requires eternal separation from Him.

Let’s be people who come to Jesus by faith now!  If you hear His voice calling to you DON’T harden your heart.