The Matthew 28:19 Project

There are times when you are simply living your life, going about your day, and then—boom—life comes at you and knocks you on your head.

One of the young ladies at my church was recently involved in a head-on collision. She suffered a broken leg, but the other driver, also a young woman, sadly died on impact. One minute, she was driving down the road, and the next, her life was changed forever. It’s a sobering reminder that life is like a fleeting vapor. We never know when we will breathe our last breath. As James writes, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). You just don’t know.

Only God knows.

Last year, when I went back home to Oklahoma for a visit, I was supposed to meet one of my closest friends. I got held up at lunch and couldn’t make it to meet her. At the time, I had no way of knowing that I would never see her again. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away just a couple of months later. If I had known, I would have gotten my lunch to go and kept my dinner date with her. But I didn’t know.

Only God knows.

My favorite redhead (Reba McEntire, for those who don’t know me) has a song on her For My Broken Heart album titled If I Had Only Known. She recorded it after members of her band were killed in a plane crash. I think we’ve all had those moments when we realize that if we had only known it would be our last time together, we would have made more time, stayed a little longer, or said a few more words.

But we don’t know.

Only God knows.

Thinking about how fragile life is, and how everything can change in the blink of an eye, was brought home to me by a recent experience at work. I work for a law firm, and although I was scheduled to be off, I went in because I hadn’t been able to finish everything I needed to do. The courthouse I often go to is next door to the post office, so I walked over to mail a package. As I approached, I stopped to chat with a few ladies standing outside. They were with a religious organization, and we spent a few minutes talking about Oklahoma.

After I went inside to mail my package, I made a mental note to ask them what organization they were with and what they were doing there. I wanted to see if there might be an opportunity to partner with them through the Matthew 28:19 Project. But I got delayed inside the post office. Then my mind shifted to my upcoming trip to Gatlinburg, and I walked right past them on my way back to the office.

When I remembered that I had wanted to speak with them, I almost turned around. But because I was pressed for time, I kept walking. In my mind, I thought to myself, well dang, I just missed that opportunity. But I didn’t turn around; I just kept walking. I had other things to do, and places to go. In that moment, my ministry took a back seat to everything else in my life.

By the time I made it back to my office, a shooting had occurred right near where those ladies had been standing. Two attorneys were injured, but thankfully, they are okay. I work with attorneys, and I visit the courthouse where the shooting took place all the time. This hit way too close to home for me.

Looking back, I truly believe God was prompting me to keep going back to the office. It was as if He was quietly saying, “Nope. You need to leave. You need to get out of here.”

Life comes at you fast.

One minute you’re simply doing your job, and the next, someone starts shooting. None of us knows what will happen from one moment to the next.

Only God knows.

So let me ask you something.

If today were your last day, do you know where you would spend eternity?

I do.

My eternal home is Heaven, not because of anything I have done. I haven’t done anything worthy of Heaven. I haven’t shared my faith enough; I haven’t shared Jesus enough; I haven’t witnessed enough; I haven’t used this blog as much as I need to; and I haven’t used the Matthew 28:19 Project as much as I need to. I haven’t reached those I want to reach through my content. I know my eternal home is with Jesus Christ because I have placed my faith in Him as my Lord and Savior. My prayer is that everyone reading this can say the same.

The Bible tells us there is only one way to Heaven, and that way is through Jesus Christ. If you have never confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior and turned to Him in repentance, don’t put it off another day. None of us is promised tomorrow. None of us knows when our final breath will come. Only God knows.