The Four Last Things
The stadium will filled with spectators, as it was on most Sundays during the American football season, BUT this Sunday and this game was very special! The home team’s famous and very beloved quarterback had just played his last game….he was retiring from the game. There would no more last minute heroics, which thrilled the fans year after year; the hero would not be returning for the next season. After the last play of the game, he stood on the sideline with a football clutched in his right hand, held high in acknowledgement to the fans for their thunderous ovation. Under his left arm he cradled his helmet and then slowly he walked off the field. The fans grudgingly stopped applauding him. The end had occurred; both the player and the fans knew that this was the end of a wonderful relationship….something they knew must end, but which they wanted to continue. One could sense the emotion saying, “Please keep it going.” Yet they knew it was over.
After the last game, evaluations of the impact the quarterback on the game, the town, and the fans began and would continue for years. Most will be very positive, though a few will be less so. The judgments will change with the passing of time, but his fans will always be true and forgiving, if forgiving is required. The hero had played his role and had been true to his team and the fans.
As it was with the football player, so it is with all of us. There will be a time when we will walk off the field of our occupations into retirement or a new endeavor. Judgments will be rendered about our performance and our loyalty to friends and fellow employees. How we are judged will be based on the view of each individual evaluating us. The only certainty is that we will be judged ….judgment is something that we cannot escape. It is part of our existence.
When the game of life is over and we are subject to death, we will be judged again, but this time it will be for the final time. While many people will have different evaluations of our performance in life, there is only one judgment that will count….God’s judgment! Be assured, He will judge us and His judgment will be rendered quickly….no waiting here and there will be no revisionist version. God’s judgment is quick and final for each individual. Eternal life will be ours, either in Paradise or in Hell.
Oh yes, there is no avoiding the final judgment on our lives; it will be given by God. Our eternal lives will be spent either in heaven or hell. Though God renders the final verdict, by the choices we make in this life, each one of us actually determines where our souls will spend eternity. Each individual makes the choice, choosing eternal happiness or eternal despair. Death, judgment, heaven or hell, the four last things….only concerning the last two things will we have a choice. Choose well….while you can!