"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once" - (Heb. 9:27).

Did you ever have one of those appointments that you'd really rather just do without? That doctor's appointment can wait, after all, it kills a whole day, costs a lot of money and the news may not be good. All our female readers know that the way to make a male of the species improve from all his aches and pains and begin to feel better immediately is to schedule a doctor's appointment. Boy, do we start getting better as the time for that appointment gets closer! And how about that dental appointment? Eueww! Boy, I can get along just fine without that one. All that scraping and gouging along my gum line it's just about as appealing as a sharp stick in the eye. You know, I think a lot of these appointments must be canceled at the last minute, because I see that sign in the office of almost every dentist I visit you know, the one that says something to the effect that if you don't cancel within 48 hours of your scheduled time you still have to pay.

Yes, some appointments can be canceled, but there's one no one will be able to cancel, postpone or avoid. It's the appointment with death. The only thing we can do about it is prepare by making sure of our destination before the scheduled meeting. Remember, you can't live wrong and die right! There was an epitaph one time that read, "Pause Stranger, when you pass me by; as you are now, so one was I. As I am now, so you will be, so prepare for death and follow me." Some unknown passerby read those words and scrawled the following beneath it: "To follow you I'm not content, until I know which way you went." Are you sure of which way you'll go when appointment time comes? Obeying Jesus is the only sure way of having complete confidence. John writes, "These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." - (1 Jn. 5:13).

Lonnie Ritchie
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