Hebrews 9: 27-28 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Life and death are opposite sides of the same coin, there is just a slice of time between them. The gravity of this reality was brought home to me very forcefully one Sunday while returning from church. I was on that New York raceway called the Grand Central Parkway. I had merged onto the Parkway going west just before Flushing Meadow Park and I heard the sound of an oncoming Harley motorbike. It whizzed past me in an instant and was gone. That is normal. By the time I approached the LaGuardia airport, the traffic had stalled in every lane. That was unusual. Soon I could see ahead to my right that there had been an accident and various individuals were coming and going at the scene, everyone on a cellphone. One of the vehicles involved was in my lane. As I peered ahead, I saw someone move the bike to the shoulder of the road and on the pavement there laid the biker motionless. My heart broke. Did he die? I don’t know, there was nothing on the news yet. I was very shaken by the reality of how suddenly this man’s life had either ended or changed forever.

Death is certain and to many it comes suddenly. I reflected that just within the last 10 days before this incident several celebrities had passed away, there had been a train wreck, a plane crash, fires, and wars taking thousands of lives. Were all these people ready to face judgment? Are you?  “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Roman 5:8). Do you believe this? Speak to God and tell him so, ask for forgiveness of sins and be free from the fear of death and judgment.