READ: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8

“…Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” – Philippians 2:12

A friend once told me about an incident that jolted him into becoming a Christian. He told me, “I was a party-going, night-life person with lots of girlfriends. One day, I was going home in a friend’s car after one of our usual parties when I noticed that the car was unusually quiet. I inseted one of the tapes lying in the front of the car. To my utmost surprise, instead of music, I heard the sound of preaching. I exclaimed, ‘Hey, what’s this? Since when did you start lis- tening to such things? Are you also one of those born-again people?’”

And his friend replied, “Hey, I am securing myself.” My friend said to me, “I began to think very fast. If our car was to have had an accident and we were both to die, he may have gone to Heaven, and I would have gone to Hell!!”

My friend suddenly realized that he had been deceived into thinking that every one of his friends was a ruthless sinner like he was. People were secretly seeking God and securing their places in Heaven.

You better make sure that you are doing the right thing. Do not look at the crowd. You are born alone, and you will die alone. Do not even look to your husband or your wife. It is unusual for husbands and wives to be born on the same day. It is even more unusual for them to die on the same day. You will stand before God as an individual. Never forget that fact of life.