As a kid I had this bizarre notion
of children being free from death. I supposed that dying was something meant
exclusively for adults and the aged. How mistaken I’d been!
Soon I discovered that my idealised view just didn’t square with reality. Infant mortality quickly showed me that the enemy called Death doesn’t discriminate on the basis of age. Also, cases of miscarriage drummed it into my head that an unborn child is ‘dieable’ as soon as conception takes place.
Get yourself a local newspaper. What says the first obituary you see? Does it not say that one Mrs Dorothy Shaw died at 37? Didn’t the Dansvilles in your neighbourhood lose their teen child last year? Didn’t Alexander the Great, Jim Reeves, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro all pass on in their prime? All these are proof that Death is no respecter of age.
Death is the most irrational of all. It strikes blindly. Death doesn’t always respect our desire to live a hundred years or more. It ignores a doddery centenarian and takes away a boisterous six-year-old. That’s why people often portray Death as the Grim Reaper.
Many people hate to discuss the subject of death. They even shudder at the prospect of dying. But the grim reality is we’ll all die some day. Death is the ultimate destiny of all life. David in the Bible called it ‘the way of all the earth’ (1 Kings 2:2).
Saddest of all, Death sometimes comes for us when we don’t expect it. One woman slumped to the ground and died in the middle of a procession. One of my church leaders once passed away while reading his Bible in his room. You too could die before tomorrow. I could be gone before you’re done reading this post. I know telling you this really sucks, but isn’t that a fact of life?
So I think your worst fear shouldn’t be whether you could die today but what happens to you if you actually do? Are you fully prepared to meet your deadline? If you breathed your last this very hour, to which side of eternity would you go? Would you make it? Would there be a welcome song for you at the celestial shore?
Unfortunately, billions of people around the world journey through life without thinking about death. Instead, they are engaged in desperate pursuit of worldly things. They want to get more money so they can ride the best cars and buy bigger mansions. They believe they can start thinking about death when they reach 75 years and above. Such people are deluded for two reasons.
First, they don’t know for sure if they will see the light of the next day, not to talk of living for the next five, eight or fifteen years. Death can come for them ANYTIME. James 4:13-14 says, ‘Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.’
Second, the material things which preoccupy these people today will ultimately prove worthless. One may idolise money while on this side of life, but a time will come when such a one is given every note there is, they won’t be able to spend it. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether one dies old or young, naturally or tragically, rich or poor, happy or sad, fulfilled or frustrated; it only matters where one stands before the Creator. ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’ (Matthew 16:26).
Dear friend, do you want to wait until you reach 70 or 90 or 100 before you begin to think about death? Surely you’re in great danger because your life might be required of you tonight. Now is the best time to decide where you’ll spend eternity―delay could be costly.
Soon I discovered that my idealised view just didn’t square with reality. Infant mortality quickly showed me that the enemy called Death doesn’t discriminate on the basis of age. Also, cases of miscarriage drummed it into my head that an unborn child is ‘dieable’ as soon as conception takes place.
Get yourself a local newspaper. What says the first obituary you see? Does it not say that one Mrs Dorothy Shaw died at 37? Didn’t the Dansvilles in your neighbourhood lose their teen child last year? Didn’t Alexander the Great, Jim Reeves, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro all pass on in their prime? All these are proof that Death is no respecter of age.
Death is the most irrational of all. It strikes blindly. Death doesn’t always respect our desire to live a hundred years or more. It ignores a doddery centenarian and takes away a boisterous six-year-old. That’s why people often portray Death as the Grim Reaper.
Many people hate to discuss the subject of death. They even shudder at the prospect of dying. But the grim reality is we’ll all die some day. Death is the ultimate destiny of all life. David in the Bible called it ‘the way of all the earth’ (1 Kings 2:2).
Saddest of all, Death sometimes comes for us when we don’t expect it. One woman slumped to the ground and died in the middle of a procession. One of my church leaders once passed away while reading his Bible in his room. You too could die before tomorrow. I could be gone before you’re done reading this post. I know telling you this really sucks, but isn’t that a fact of life?
So I think your worst fear shouldn’t be whether you could die today but what happens to you if you actually do? Are you fully prepared to meet your deadline? If you breathed your last this very hour, to which side of eternity would you go? Would you make it? Would there be a welcome song for you at the celestial shore?
Unfortunately, billions of people around the world journey through life without thinking about death. Instead, they are engaged in desperate pursuit of worldly things. They want to get more money so they can ride the best cars and buy bigger mansions. They believe they can start thinking about death when they reach 75 years and above. Such people are deluded for two reasons.
First, they don’t know for sure if they will see the light of the next day, not to talk of living for the next five, eight or fifteen years. Death can come for them ANYTIME. James 4:13-14 says, ‘Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.’
Second, the material things which preoccupy these people today will ultimately prove worthless. One may idolise money while on this side of life, but a time will come when such a one is given every note there is, they won’t be able to spend it. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether one dies old or young, naturally or tragically, rich or poor, happy or sad, fulfilled or frustrated; it only matters where one stands before the Creator. ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’ (Matthew 16:26).
Dear friend, do you want to wait until you reach 70 or 90 or 100 before you begin to think about death? Surely you’re in great danger because your life might be required of you tonight. Now is the best time to decide where you’ll spend eternity―delay could be costly.
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