Bible Brief: "It is appointed for men to die once"
(“Bible Briefs” will be a fairly regular feature on my substack, perhaps once a week or so. “Fear God, and keep His commandments…is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). I would be amiss if I didn’t remind my readers of this and point them in the ultimately correct direction.)
Hebrews 9:27 makes the solemn, and factual, pronouncement in the title of this post. An appointment with death awaits everyone; it cannot be escaped, short of interruption by the 2nd coming of the Lord Jesus. And "after this [death] the judgment." That can't be avoided, either. The wise will prepare for the inevitable.
Jesus spent His entire teaching ministry trying to persuade men that, while life on earth is important, the true priority is to prepare for what happens after this earthly life ends. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Mt. 6:19-20). But how many people truly have fixed their priorities where they ought to be?
"The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (Jeremiah 8:20).