James 4:15 “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.“

When life on this earth ends, many will finally figure out just how fleeting and short it was. Even the sand, rock, mountains, trees, and grass live much longer than human beings here on earth. So as 1 John 2:15 teaches us, that “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” If you don’t believe this now, you will when your life ends.

The things below will mean absolutely nothing at that point.

“I sold millions of records, I was famous, thousands cheered me on at concerts”

“I worked my way up the corporate ladder, and owned vacation homes”

“I got to see many wonders of the world, indeed I traveled the world”

“I was a parent to many children, and had grandchildren”.

“They named a building after me, a road after me”

“I was on TV, people watched my shows, I was a famous celebrity”

“My team won the championship”

“I broke many records in sport and am in the Hall of Fame”

“I married my true love” (some will say 2, 3, 4, 5 times)

“I was highly attractive”

“I had more followers than most on social media”

“My kids turned out wonderful”

“They will say I lived a life of integrity, compassion, and kindness”

“I cared for animals and volunteered for many environmental causes”

“I lived a good quiet life, and was a good person”

“I did almost everything on my bucket list in life”

“I left my family a fortune”

“I was a talented _________________(fill in the blank)”

“There were probably many who came to my funeral”

“I had many friends who cared about me”

“I had a great job and worked very hard at it”

And I am sure many other things could be on this worldly list speaking on one’s life, but the thing that won’t be on that list would be “I loved my sins, I was a sinner”, “I followed Jesus Christ and by His grace alone He saved me, so this life on earth is not all there is”.

You see, there are MANY now waiting the Final Judgment in hell most likely still thinking on those worldly accomplishments and wondering “what have they got me?” and “why didn’t listen to that person who shared the Gospel?” and “where are my friends? where is my family?”. Some will be like the rich man we read of in Scripture who asked Abraham to warn his family on earth as he sat in torment.

The SOBERING TRUTH is that you cannot EVADE God’s judgment by your worldly accomplishments! You may have deceived yourself into thinking they can, but will just end up with your favorite celebrity waiting for the Lake of Fire.

If you desire heavenly things, believe Jesus Christ, place your faith alone in Him that He alone paid your sin debt and you shall be saved. You won’t spend eternity thinking “if I just had listened” as you realize your worldly life meant really nothing at that point, and how SHORT that time was compared to eternity.