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Nov 07, 2019 08:00am

Twenty Seconds

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There are only a handful of times in my life I have thought, “I could die in the next few moments.”

This morning was one of those times.

I was driving on the highway like any other day, except it had been raining so the roads were wet. I didn’t think too much about it and I was driving the speed limit – 60 mph.

Astonishingly, someone pulled out onto the highway right in front of me and blocked both lanes going 10 mph or less. I slammed on my breaks… and hydroplaned.

I skidded out of control and onto the other side of traffic.

Thank God the other side of the highway was empty. There were no cars… So, I had time to stop skidding as my wheel was going haywire and made it back to the right side of the road without flying into a ditch or hitting another car.

But I was afraid for my life through this ordeal that lasted less than 20 seconds.

20 seconds.

That’s how fast it took me to realize . . . I could die.

Why did that scare me?

Because I didn’t want my family to get the phone call from police saying I had died in a car wreck.

I didn’t want my fiancée to be left alone.

I didn’t want to die yet, and not in this way. And maybe that’s selfish because the Bible teaches this present world is only a shadow of what’s to come.

We are mortal.

Our lives are fragile, at any moment we can skid out of control, into incoming traffic, and say goodbye to this world.

What would be your final thoughts? All I could think was, “Oh, God.”

Experiences like this can shake people to their core… Because it makes us think about our lives and what we have done with our time.

Have I loved my family well?

Have I lived well?

Have I served God well?

Will the Lord say to me, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” when I stand before his throne?

Heaven seems like a dream, a death away, but death is inevitable. I know, for me, I don’t live like I will die today.

If someone called you and said you have 24 hours to live, what would you do?

Would you tell your spouse, your kids or your family that you loved them and hold them close?

Would you call your friends or family who are lost and tell them the gospel?

How different would it be from the life you are living now?

Are you ready to die?

That may all sound morbid, but I’d rather face the fact that death is inevitable and not need the reminder that life is “but a mist” to quote the Apostle Paul.

If you had only 20 seconds before you thought you could die, what would your final thoughts be?