"I hear the trash trucks coming!" I warned my husband at the familiar sound of rumbling and whining that signaled they were in the neighborhood. Some bags of trash were waiting on the back porch to be taken to the alley, and I didn't want him to forget. Howard was taking his time, and I was urging him to hurry.
"They're getting closer, I can tell!" I announced as the noise became more pronounced. He was putting his shoes on, but I could hear them in the alley by that time. Finally my husband headed out the back door with the bags, but I could see the truck passing our house. He'd missed them! Oh well, they'd be back in a few days, so I didn't say anything. Later, though, I couldn't resist ribbing him.
"So I see you missed the trash trucks!"
"No, I didn't! he responded.
"But I saw them go by before you got out there!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, they did! But they saw me coming and a guy reached out and took the trash from me!" he gloated.
Oh! Things are not always what they seem. Spiritually speaking, no doubt many of us have friends, acquaintances or loved ones who had been putting off making a decision to serve Christ. Some might even have become ill with a bad disease and still procrastinated, even though it appeared that their time might be short. Then suddenly, they were taken, and we grieved that they had not made Heaven.
From our point of view, all was lost. But who knows what happened in their last moments of consciousness? If the person lived away, perhaps at the last minute circumstances intervened and he took Jesus into his heart.
We can hear the rumbling and whine of events that point to the soon coming of the Lord. It seems His coming is even at the door. So many hear what is happening, but turn a deaf ear. If anything does happen, they might think they'll have time to put on their shoes and catch up at the last minute.
That didn't happen with the five foolish virgins who went to sleep and let their lamps run out of oil. Nor did it happen to Noah's generation who found the door of the Ark closed after they had refused God for the last time. No one reached out the door and pulled them in. Sometimes it really is too late.
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