This morning, as I was getting ready for school, a thought occurred to me, “What if I was supposed to have died yesterday and I’m living on borrowed time?” Perhaps this thought came to me because I’m reading in Ezekiel about the awesome and strange vision he had of God.

If I had died yesterday, what would I regret? What would I be proud of? What would I not waste time worrying about? And now that I’m given a second chance (since I’m still living even though I should have died yesterday), where would I spend my time?

It came down to one thing as the most important – Jesus. Even more than my family, what it comes down to is my relationship with Jesus. Am I ready to meet the Lord? Have I love for Him that is the evidence of my faith in Him? Have I given my utmost for His highest?

Frankly, the thought of hell scares me. The thought of everlasting darkness and torment and loneliness is overwhelming. I definitely do not want to go there and I would do anything to avoid it. But it is not enough to wean me from sin for long. Instead, what will keep me from sin in the long run is the grand and pleasant vision of awesomeness of God. Being able to taste the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

It is having tasted the sweetness and beauty of God and wanting more of Him that I want to be pure. It is not mere fear of punishment or even death or hell that motivates me. But it is wanting to have my longing for something greater than what I’ve experienced on this earth filled that will keep me from sinning in the long run.

So, I pray to God: “Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see your beauty! Let me taste and see you as sweet and more glorious than anything in this world!”

PH