Tag: preparation

“Do Over”

“Do Over”

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Saturday’s Column: Learning From Lehman

I like to ask questions; these are rhetorical. Have you ever lost something and been frustrated or sad that it’s no longer here? What about someone ? I know I have. I think we can all relate. 

And what about this. Have you ever given away something, whether a donation or to a friend, and regretted it because you needed it later? 

These people and or things that came to your mind, would you like to have them back? Some may be less important than others, but regardless the point remains. 

I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought about something or someone I’d like to have back. 

Beyond people and things, what about time? I’m sure a decent portion of us are happy with where our life is now, I know I am blessed beyond measure. 

This doesn’t mean there aren’t certain events or decisions we wouldn’t mind to have a do over on. I mean, after all, hindsight is 20/20, right? 

If hindsight is 20/20, What about foresight? Think about this, it’s impossible to change your past. You can try all you want. You can’t do it. But you can change your future. 

You can make a decision here and now that you’re going to stop, start, or continue down any number of paths. So, which path are you going to take?

To help reflect on this, let’s take a look at a passage from 1st John 1 – Verses 6 and 7: If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 

With this in mind, I want us to fast forward from the here and now. We are going all the way to judgment day. We are standing there awaiting our final judgment. Suddenly, you find yourself amongst those doomed souls that are told to depart. It’s no small matter, being eternally separated from God and his grace. 

Now, what would you do if you were given a second chance? You’re told, you can have that “do over”. All you have to do is follow the plan laid out in the Bible and you’ll be given that opportunity to go back with that ever elusive do over. Scripture like John 14 – Verse 15 tells us.  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 

I don’t know about you, but when I explore this idea, I’d like to imagine that I would move mountains with this second chance. So what stops me from having this level of commitment now? 

Why do so many of us squander the first chance, knowing we can’t have a second when this life ends. It sounds trivial to compare this to anything earthly, and in a way it is, but the idea that we would attempt to prepare for anything of an earthly matter, but not expend a tremendous amount of our time and energy on spiritual preparation is really something to reflect on. 

I think it’s amazing we have the gift of free will, but it’s important we understand there is an enormous responsibility that comes with that free will.

Our Lord has given us the roadmap. We must follow it. We said earlier hindsight is 20/20. But foresight….. is 66 books long. We just have to pick up the good book and apply it to our lives. We won’t be perfect. We just need to aim our feet and hearts down the road laid out before us. 

Landon Bryant
Galatians

Galatians

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Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

Gary Pollard

Galatians is written to a group of non-Jewish Christians. Paul converted them with a simple message: Jesus came to earth to give us grace and immortality. We get that by believing what we’ve heard about him coming back to life and by being baptized into his grace. At some point, Jewish converts infiltrated their church and started aggressively promoting Jewish traditions. They told the Galatian Christians that if they really wanted to be saved, they needed to follow certain Jewish customs. The entire book is both a refutation of that teaching and a dire warning to any Christian who tries to add to God’s requirements. 

Jesus’s sacrifice was to free us from this evil world we live in. Romans 8.22-25 says, “We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain like a woman ready to give birth to a child. Not only the Earth, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have God’s Spirit as the first part of his promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children. I mean we are waiting for our bodies to be made free. We were saved to have this hope. If we can see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. People don’t hope for something they already have. But we are hoping for something we don’t have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently.”

The whole purpose of Christianity is to anticipate Jesus’s return, and help the rest of the world face that day prepared. Paul reminded the Galatians that they weren’t saved by any old human way. The only legitimate source of truth and hope is God. 

Raise ‘Em Right

Raise ‘Em Right

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Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail

Dale Pollard

There are plenty of great examples of godly parenting in the Bible, but there are just as many (if not more) examples of poor parenting. Tompkinsville, where I preach, is blessed to have several parents who are taking Proverbs 22.6 seriously and that’s something we shouldn’t take for granted. Perhaps no other Christian responsibility has the potential to build His kingdom and make the kind of impact like our responsibility to train and teach the next generation to love Jesus. 

“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.” 

Psalm 119.9

There’s an unlimited amount of opinions and advice out there on the subject of parenting, but there’s something more meaningful about receiving it from faithful parents who have been successful. 

Here Are 3 Pieces of Advice From Godly Parents 

1. Children Need To Know That Marriage Isn’t Your Number One Goal In Life 

“Our goal in life is to praise the God of glory. Too many young people become so enamored with the thought of getting married that they neglect to devote themselves to the service of God. They miss out on the joys of mission work and service because they are too concerned with finding their next date. Focus on God and (to utilize Jesus’ words) “all these things will be added to you,” because you will be surrounded by the kind of people who are worth marrying.” 

2. Our Commitment To Christ Isn’t A Part Time Job

“An excuse is a skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. While under the Old Law Moses allowed a year off from marriage (Deut. 24.5) Jesus made it clear that all Christian parents can’t make Him their part time Lord (Lk. 9.57-62). Replace any excuse with an exertion of effort to glorify God, because excuses ring hollow in the ears of the divine.” 

3. Model The Kind Of Person You Want Your Children To Be

“Being a parent should make you think about your every move. Your immature inclinations should take a backseat when the what you model before your children can have eternal ramifications. Just be godly. 

Stand up for God. 

Talk about God. 

Have the courage you’d like your children to have. 

Show them how it’s done.”

A sincere thanks to, 

– Brett Petrillo 
– Hiram Kemp &
– Ben Shafer 

For their continual example of faithfulness, work in His kingdom, and their helpful insights on godly parenting. 

Time Flies, But We Navigate

Time Flies, But We Navigate

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Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

Neal Pollard

Ann Turner Cook passed away at her St. Petersburg, Florida, home on Friday, June 3, 2022. She was 95 years old, was an educator, a novelist, a wife, and a mother. Her father was a well-known cartoonist. But you almost certainly know her for a charcoal drawing that was made of her by an artist neighbor, Dorothy Hope Smith. It was submitted for the label of a baby food company and chosen in 1928, then trademarked in 1931. Ann was the original Gerber baby (news report here)! You’ve seen that iconic picture. If you realized she was a real person, you never thought about the fact that this baby grew up and eventually grew old. Or that she would now be dead.

I know nothing about Mrs. Cook’s religious life or spiritual preparation. But I do know that she is part of a universal truth concerning life, and that is that death comes relatively soon for us all. How soon? 

  • Like water spilled on the ground (2 Sam. 14:14). 
  • Like a weaver’s shuttle (Job 7:6; Isa. 38:12). 
  • Like a breath (Job 7:7).
  • Like a shadow (Job 8:9; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ec. 6:12). 
  • Like a flower (Job 14:2).
  • Swift as a runner (Job 9:25).
  • Like a handbreadths (Ps. 39:5).
  • Like a wind that passes (Ps. 78:39). 
  • Like a sigh (Ps. 90:9). 
  • Like smoke (Ps. 102:3).
  • Like a lengthened shadow  and grass (Ps. 102:11; 109:23). 
  • Like a passing shadow (Ps. 144:4). 
  • Like a fading flower or withering grass (Isa. 40:7-8; Js. 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:23-25). 
  • Like a vapor (Js. 4:14). 

With that in mind, shouldn’t we pray with David, “LORD, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am” (Ps. 39:4).

Yes, we can look at the Gerber Baby and see that. Or we can look through our own family albums. The baby, childhood, and young adult photos of our grandparents, parents, or ourselves. The weathering winds of time do sure and quick work, reminding us of the many ways the Bible depicts it for us. Time is short and it passes quickly.

Rather than a depressing inevitability, this should be a respected teacher. We should pray with Moses, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:9). We should take Paul’s inspired advice and “be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). Don’t leave undone what needs to be done. Don’t put off what must be done before this life is over. It will be over before you know it. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (9:27). 

Focusing In Worship

Focusing In Worship

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Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Carl Pollard

As humans we have a hard time when it comes to focusing. Attention spans seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Goldfish have an attention span of about 5 seconds. I’m convinced that mankind will one day be on the same level if nothing changes. 

While focus in our everyday lives can be a struggle, what about in worship? How can we improve our focus when we come together each week? Before we even assemble, we should be preparing to focus on worship. 

Isaiah 29:13 says, “…Because this people draw near with their words, And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.”

They drew near to God with words, just like we do in singing songs each Sunday. 

They honored God with their lips, much like we do in our prayers each week. What they were saying sounded good! But, if our hearts are not in worship, we have failed God. 

Isaiah writing on God’s behalf says that their “reverence consisted of tradition learned by rote.” This word reverence is the the Hebrew word for “fear.” You may have heard that every time you read the word “fear” in the Bible to replace it with the word “respect” or “reverence.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. Hebrew language has a word for respect, and this isn’t it. It means literal fear. 

In fact, the Greek equivalent of this word is Phobos, which is where we get our English word phobia. For example, if you have arachnophobia you have a fear of spiders. If you saw a spider crawling on your leg, and you are afraid of spiders, you’re not going to look at it and go, “I respect you.” That’s not how fear works; you’re going to use any means necessary to dispatch the threat. 

So we are supposed to worship in fear? YES. 

Focus out of fear and awe of WHO we are worshipping. We are singing to the creator. 

We are praying to the God who parted seas, spoke the world into existence, and guided the Israelites with a pillar of fire. We are worshipping the King of Kings, the Great I AM, the Alpha and Omega, the One with no beginning or end, we are bowing down before the Most Holy God of the Universe. 

If we realize what we are doing in worship, we can’t help but feel a little fear. Isaiah says, their worship was done through traditions learned “by rote.” This literally means, “Mechanical or habitual repetition.” We may be physically singing and look like we are worshipping God, but only the individual and God above know what is going on in the heart. 

Isa. 12:5 “sing to the Lord.” This requires FOCUS, not mindlessly singing songs. 

There are songs for each other, and songs directed toward God. “I want to be a worker for the Lord” …do we mean it? We can’t sing “Stand up, stand up for Jesus” on Sunday when all throughout the week all we’ve done is sit down. Focus on the words. 

God would rather hear a tone deaf person who sings with their heart and mind, then a classically trained singer who only focuses on what it sounds like to them. Sunday morning worship comes once a week; it can be easy to let it turn into a mindless habit. Train your mind to focus on every act of worship. Don’t let worship become something we do out of tradition or habit. Focus on WHO we have come together to worship. 

Are You “Prepping”?

Are You “Prepping”?

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Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

Neal Pollard

Some have called it the “doom boom.” Before Covid, Digital Media Solutions estimated that there were some 3.7 million Americans who classified themselves as “survivalists” (source). From food to water, from clothing to shelter, a growing number of people are stockpiling, hoarding, or whatever term is most relevant to their situation. Actions range from accumulating ammunition, gasoline, and can goods to building high-end luxury apocalypse shelters. Whoever the perceived enemy is, shadow governments, foreign nations, social revolutionaries, or some combination thereof, people want to be ready!  It helps them feel calm even as they have friends, neighbors, and family who seem to be doing nothing to prepare for such increasingly plausible scenarios.

Scripture does talk about the importance of preparation. True, the Bible talks about how the ant “prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest” (Prov. 6:8). But even greater emphasis is put on a different kind of preparation. God directs us in this readiness. 

Are you prepping for every good work (2 Tim. 2:21)? Paul tells us how that’s done in context. We must “avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness” (16). Paul gives as an example of this people who upset the faith of others by saying the resurrection had past. He also says to “flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace” and “a pure heart” (22). Then, “refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” (23; “split hairs,” 14). An untamed tongue (Js. 3:2ff), unholy craving (1 Cor. 10:6), and undisciplined mind (Prov. 4:23) can really keep us from being prepared to do the good works God designed us to walk in (cf. Eph. 2:10)? The aim, according to Paul, is to be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master” (21). Is what we do each day prepping us for that?

Are you prepping your mind for action (1 Pet. 1:13)? Peter writes this to a people facing persecution and spiritual adversity (6). In the first of a series of imperatives, Peter tells them to “prepare your minds for action” (literally, “gird the loins of your mind”). The word is only found in this verse, but “It is taken from the custom of the eastern nations who, when they had occasion to exert themselves (as in journeying, running, etc.), used to bind up their long–flowing garments by a girdle or belt about their hips” (Zodhiates, The complete word study dictionary, np). So, the idea is cinching up what’s loose. Peter says you prepare your mind for action by keeping sober in spirit. I find it interesting how often sober-mindedness is connected to preparing for the judgment (1 Th. 5:6,8; 2 Tim. 4:5; 1 Pet. 4:7; 5:8). Even in this passage, Peter follows this command up with the command, “fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” There’s the action now of living the faithful Christian life, even in the face of opposition. Then, there’s the action of fixing your hope on Christ’s coming. We prepare to live in the present while preparing for the end.

Are you prepping for the Lord (Lk. 1:17)? Luke tells us that John the Baptist was sent “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” We can read in the New Testament that he was success in helping some do that, while so many others thought he was crazy and still others so dangerous that they resisted him. Ultimately, a wicked man who already wanted to kill him but was afraid of the many who regarded John as a prophet, found occasion to take his life (Mat. 14:5ff). His mission ultimately succeeded (Luke 7:22-23). Of course, Jesus Himself is eventually killed, but that death was necessary to help prepare us for His second coming (Heb. 9:28). There is a song which admonishes us, “There’s a great day coming…when the saint and the sinner shall be parted right and left, are you ready for that day to come?” How tragic to be stockpiling for an armageddon but unprepared for the Judgment. 

These may seem like dire days full of foreboding. Whether economic collapse, social unrest, or political corruption, we may be concerned about civil or national trouble ahead. Yet, that is not what Scripture emphasizes. Scripture emphasizes how God wants His people preparing to do good, think right, and be ready for eternity. All our “stuff” will be burned up in the end (2 Pet. 3:10). Our souls never die, and we will be somewhere eternally (Mat. 25:46). Each day is about prepping for that! May we encourage each other to get ready and stay ready!

Deprivation In The Land Of Plenty

Deprivation In The Land Of Plenty

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Friday’s Column: Supplemental Strength

brent-portrait

Brent Pollard

It is likely the most willfully ignorant who would deny that we are entering a period of inflation. Various issues are causing this, such as rising fuel costs and a growing sector of society preferring unemployment to gainful employment. To illustrate this, look no further than our ports. There are dozens of ships parked off our coasts with an insufficient workforce to unload the products at the docks. COVID-19 indeed gets its share of the blame for this but, despite the pundits, cannot account for it all. Thus, we are beginning to see shortages of certain products and empty shelves in stores. For example, we will be running out of certain products again while it sits on a ship just hundreds of feet from our shore. Thus, we may well experience deprivation in the shadow of plenty. 

This deprivation happens with greater frequency within our collective spiritual lives. For example, how many households own unread Bibles? I would venture to guess that there are many. So here we have people sitting in the presence of plenty but suffer for a “lack of knowledge” (cf. Isaiah 5.13; Hosea 4.6). The Israelites ended up in captivity because of a similar choice of ignoring God’s Word. We cannot suppose that a gracious-but-just God would allow those of us living under the New Testament to skate when committing the same offense. Jesus depicted a Judgment scene in His Sermon on the Mount. Do you recall what He said to those crying, “Lord, Lord?” God only allows heavenly entry to those doing the Father’s will (Matthew 7.21-23). And where do we learn of God’s Will? Peter says that God has given us all things about life and godliness (2 Peter 1.3ff). And Paul reminds us that the Scriptures are God-breathed [inspired] (2Timothy 3.16-17). Lastly, Jesus confirms this Word as truth (John 17.17). Indeed, God has left us with a book into which even the angels desire to look (1 Peter 1.12). 

So why do people suffer spiritual want? God’s Word sits like those cargo ships, within reach of those who would profit from it. The problem lies in the lack of readers on this side of eternity’s shore. Oh, there are excuses, to be sure. For example, “I’m too busy and cannot find time to read.” Or “I get enough instruction during church services.” But their stores are increasingly empty of what the spirit most needs. Unlike our current economic situation in the United States, where reliance on imports leaves us in a lurch, there is a different reality in the spiritual realm. Since we refuse to partake of the plenty God has supplied, the devil gladly steps in and stocks our shelves for us with the sensual. Since our focus is on the immediate, we don’t notice we’ve traded our soul for that which will destroy us (Matthew 6.19-21; Luke 9.25; Luke 12.16-33). 

Get to work (2 Timothy2.15)! Grab that Bible and unload its truth into your heart. Don’t suffer deprivation in the shadow of plenty.    

Roy Benavidez: Cheating Death For A While

Roy Benavidez: Cheating Death For A While

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Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

pollard

Neal Pollard

Thanks to MrBallen, popular millennial YouTuber, I reacquainted myself with the incredible story of Roy Benavidez through his video, “This man died 37 times.” His story, from childhood to death, is incredible. But it was his heroic acts on May 2, 1968, serving in Vietnam as an Army Special Forces Airborne team that he survived his most incredible, heroic feats. He was shot, hit with grenade shrapnel, bayoneted, and clubbed with numerous injuries so serious that at one point he was mistakenly put into a body bag, presumed dead. He charged with a helicopter rescue team so suddenly that he left his machine gun behind, armed with only a Bowie knife. He ran repeatedly into enemy fire at point blank range and continued bouncing back until he successfully rescued eight soldiers who undoubtedly would have been killed without him. When Ronald Reagan gave him the Medal of Honor 13 years later, he told White House Reporters, “You are going to hear something you will not believe if it were a script.” The Mexican-American orphan, raised in poverty and determined to serve his country, stared death in the face armed with little more than a devout faith and a devotion to his fellow soldiers. This after stepping on a land Mine in 1965 on his first tour of duty, after which doctors proclaimed he would never walk again. To the utter disbelief of medical personnel, he walked out of the hospital less than a year later and had qualified for special forces less than two years after that (additional information via psywarrior.com).

Schools, parks, and even a Navy ship have been named in his honor. He was often referred to as the man who could not be killed. He is a military legend. But, ultimately, in 1998, diabetes did what an array of enemy fighters trying their hardest could not do. It took his life. 

No one would want people to know this divine fact more than Mr. Benavidez would: “…it is appointed for men to die once…” (Heb. 9:27). Solomon adds, “For the living know they will die” (Ecc. 9:5). The sons of Korah echo, ” For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish..” (Psa. 49:10a). The message is clear. One may evade death repeatedly, but not ultimately. Only the second coming of Christ will avert the unpreventable appointment with death (cf. Gen. 3:19). 

What can and must be prevented is what the book of Revelation four times refers to as “the second death” (2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8). It is powerful, painful, and punishing. But it’s avoidable. Christ died to defeat the power of physical death and the justice of spiritual death (Heb. 2:14-15). Jesus is the greatest hero of time and eternity, who faced death and overcame it to live forevermore and offer eternal life to those who follow Him (Mat. 16:24-27). He faced the worst that the most powerful enemy of all could throw against Him, and He utterly defeated him and  it. We needed rescue, and Jesus delivered us. Surely no one who understands that would choose to remain where he or she will eternally die. Physical death is sure. Spiritual death is not. God still pleads, “Choose life in order that you may live” (Deut. 30:19). 

MAKING PLANS FOR OUR OWN FUNERAL

MAKING PLANS FOR OUR OWN FUNERAL

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Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail

image

Dale Pollard

Recently I attended the funeral of a loving and godly mother. She was celebrated and greatly mourned over by her family and friends. As the funeral service went on there were memories that were brought up that made the audience laugh and cry, even those that didn’t know her all that well. How we are remembered in life is dictated not by a single day or moment, but how the life was spent overall. This concept should be one that we make a conscious effort to visit often. There’s a great question that every Christian should know the answer to. 

What does it mean to be a person after God’s own heart? 

According to Nathan the prophet, David was “the man”! Today we use that term when we are complementing one who has shown himself to be an overachiever or is excellent in some way. When Nathan said this to David, however, he was speaking on behalf of the king’s King. Nathan was accusing David of a great wickedness. 

That being said, David was remembered at the end of his life as someone who chased the heart of God. The Lord was his passion and his pursuit in life. He wanted to see through the eyes of God, follow in the steps of God, and mold himself into a tool that accomplished a will higher than his own. His life is summed up well in a single verse. 

“For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life–except in the case of Uriah the Hittite” ( 1 Kings 15:5). 

This verse does not indicate that David was only guilty of one sin while on this earth. It wasn’t that David stumbled and continued on the path of righteousness, but instead there was a season in his life where he completely abandoned God. He gave up the path of light for one of darkness. After Nathan boldly confronts him, he is reminded of his inward allegiance to his God and he changed his course of direction. David lost his son as a consequence. Another son rebels against him. His kingdom is no longer as peaceful as it once was and at the end of his life he sits on his throne as a weary and restless ruler. Even so, despite the darkness on all sides, he chose to stay in the light. 

In the end he wasn’t remembered as the “adulterous murderer.” He is praised for being Israel’s greatest king because he had a heart that mimicked the king of Kings. Let’s make our plans to be remembered as people who chased after the heart of God. 

We’ve Not Reached The Judgment Yet

We’ve Not Reached The Judgment Yet

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Thursday’s Column: Carlnormous Comments

Neal Pollard (pinch-hitting for Carl today)

Solomon makes an interesting observation in the book about his grand experiment seeking the meaning of life. In Ecclesiastes 8, he is writing about the “evil man” who is basically living life as he pleases, doing what he wants with no regard for judgment. There seem to be multiple reasons for him to continue living this way:

  • He’s doing evil and is not suffering immediate consequences for it (11).
  • He’s repeatedly doing evil and is even living a long life (12; cf. 7:15).
  • He doesn’t seem to suffer a fate any worse than the righteous, and sometimes seems to do better than the righteous (14). 

Frankly, Solomon is making a timeless observation. Perhaps you have sung the song, “Tempted and tried, we’re off made to wonder why it should thus all the day long, while there are others living about us never molested though in the wrong.” Billionaires, movie stars, professional athletes, politicians, and the like provide public examples of this passage and that song. We can produce more local, if lesser known, examples of those who seem prosper, living so wicked year after year. 

Solomon does not have the understanding we have this side of Calvary, but he ultimately grasps the principle that should guide our lives today. At the very end of Ecclesiastes, he says, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (12:13-14). This is a vital principle for me to internalize and live by.

When I am tempted to live like this world is my home and the pleasures of earth are what life is about, I need to understand that I may not be struck dead while pursuing life on those terms, not even if I persist in it over a long period of time. I may not die a horrible death as the result of pursuing what God calls “evil.” However, Ecclesiastes 8:11-14 does not describe the end. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 does.

If I drift away from fellowship with God and His people, if I live like the world when I am out of sight of the church, if I put someone or something above my faithfulness to God, I probably won’t suffer immediate consequences. God loves me enough to let me know that. He will let me make whatever choices I want, but He wants me to know the results of my decisions. Solomon rightly says, “Still I know it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly” (Ecc. 8:12; cf. 3:14; 5:7; 7:18; 12:13). There is an appointment for every one to “be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). It is when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and Paul says we must all do so. Wisdom is living this life preparing for that moment, understanding that judgment is not now but then. Such knowledge should move us to “fear God and keep His commandments.”