How Life is Like a Truck- Part 4
By: Tom Wolff
I found myself northbound in the left lane of I-75 in Cincinnati Ohio one rainy morning during the rush hour. A southbound car in the left lane was suddenly struck from the rear by a box truck so powerfully that the car catapulted over the concrete barrier between the lanes. The vehicle came to rest in the northbound, left lane and slowly began to drift backwards toward me.
There was almost no time to figure out where I was to go and stopping in time was out of the question. I quickly put on my right turn signal and began to edge over into the center lane. I didn’t need the entire lane but I absolutely needed about a third of it. I made it around the crashed vehicle and as I passed, I looked back at the vehicle and saw the face of a woman whose eyes were wide open but empty. I had seen other accidents where cars were rear-ended by large trucks so violently that the drivers died with their eyes wide open. I was pretty certain that was what I was looking at.
Others were already stopping to help so I reluctantly decided I would not make a bad situation worse and continued on, but I saw those empty eyes for a long time afterward. A tragic and unforgettable morning.
That’s the mystery of life and death. While I am aware that death will eventually come to everyone, how it comes often just overwhelms my mind. The circumstances that end a person’s life are often inconceivable and make my brain hurt. Why this person and not that person? How huge a couple more seconds on either side of the event can affect the outcome. Why this accident, why this illness, why here, why now? There are, of course, no answers to these questions on this side of heaven. What I do know for certain is, as an old Nationwide Insurance commercial used to say, “Life comes at you fast.” Well, so does death. If you have spent enough time on the road, you know this – You have been an eyewitness.
The Bible doesn’t shy away from the topic of death. In fact, it constantly reinforces its certainty.
“You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live and we are not given a minute longer.” – Job 14:5
It’s as though God wants us to live under the shadow of certain death. Why would He want that? Possibly so we will prioritize living our only life with great intentionality.“Teach us to number our days that we might present to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
In other words, we as fragile human beings are to understand that our death could come at any time without notice. And if there is the possibility that we will spend eternity in one of only two places, heaven or hell, shouldn’t it be of utmost importance for us to know where we will find ourselves one moment after our death?
Only Christianity offers the assurance of eternal life. All other religions leave us with an unsettled ending. If we work hard enough, hopefully, we will get to go to heaven. But how hard, and how much is enough? Only one person ever claimed that He would be crucified and buried and three days later would rise from the dead. The empty tomb stands in history as proof that Jesus is who He said He is.
Further, Jesus said that because of His resurrection, those who believe in him will live even if they die (John 13:25). In other words, there is a life after this one in which we will live forever. I pray if you haven’t already confessed your sins and invited Jesus to live in your heart with the guarantee of eternal life, that you will do so this very day. We are either fulfilling our God-given mission every day or we are squandering whatever remaining time we have left on this earth. I think we can be easily fooled into believing we have an abundance of time left, so there’s no rush. The Bible clearly indicates otherwise.
Take time today to consider your eternal destination. Do you know where you will spend eternity? It is my prayer that you will secure your place in heaven today – It’s yours for the asking!
