What Happens After We Die

1 Tim 5:24-25 “Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later.” NKJV This is not a theological summary of what happens to us when we die...in regard to Heaven, eternal life, judgment, etc. It is a common sense piece to remind us that, after we’re gone, life will go on. And if we’ve done things we’re ashamed of, our family members will be the ones who suffer the most. Most guys carry a little emergency money in the back corner of their wallet. It’s money that their wives don’t know about. Men keep money like that for emergencies such as finding a good deal on a new gun....or knife...or driver... When we die our wives will go through our wallets and find our secret stash. Sadly, they’ll spend it at places like Bath and Body or Victioria’s Secret. And, I hate to tell you, but after you die someone else will get your stuff. Fellas, a few months after you’re gone some other guy will be driving your truck, shooting your gun, and riding your atv. Within a year after you’re gone ladies, everything you spent hours at the mall looking for will be sold at a yard sale or donated to charity. We should live our lives in such a way that when we’re dead and gone our families won’t find out any secret information that would cause them to blush or be ashamed they were related to us. We should live our lives faithful to God, faithful in our marriages, and faithful to our children. Because one day we’ll be gone...and people will talk about what they remember about us. And if we have any deep, dark secrets, after we’re gone, they won’t be secrets any more. Joe Paterno is dead and they’ve taken his statue down. “Joe-Pa”... as he was affectionately known, can’t do a thing about it. He can’t defend himself. Can’t go back and do what he should have down. He should have told someone what he knew. He should have called the police, the college officials, somebody...anybody! But he didn’t. Sandusky is going to jail, Paterno’s statue is going in the closet, and Penn State isn’t going to a bowl game anytime soon. It is a sad visible proverb that we all can learn from. If we live with secrets, when we die, our families will have to live with the memory. Joe Paterno is dead and they’ve taken his statue down. Like a country song I heard a few weeks ago that said, “Johnny Cash is dead and his house burned down.” That song summed up the sad reality of life and death. You live – You die – and One day your house burns down. Folks, one day we’ll all die and people will remember us for the way we lived. That’s what happens after we die.