"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him..." (Job 13:15, NKJV).
Not to be morbid, but the understanding of what is on the "other side" must begin early in life and one must be realistic even with children to teach biblical mindset and preparation. Jesus Himself was the ultimate realist and He mentioned the grave and beyond, even hell more than heaven. Being prepared for the hereafter is not a matter of making a will and paying or preparing for one's final expenses via life insurance. Some people actually spend less time preparing for death than their annual vacation--this ought not to be so!
We all need to be assured of our salvation and know that God won't take us till we are ready in His timing if we are in His will. As Epictetus said, "I cannot escape death, but I can escape the fear of it." We should be confident in our Lord (i.e., that we've made our peace with God) that we would say with Robert Louis Stevenson, that, even if we woke up in hell we'd still believe in Him.
David thanked the Lord that, though he had been chastened severely, he had not been given over to death (cf. Psalm 118:18). There is a "sin which leads unto death," however, and John said not to pray for such a one (cf. 1 John 5:16). Even Christians can go too far and be removed by divine discipline of the Lord, that is why they, too, must live in the fear of the Lord and behold both the goodness and severity of the Lord per Romans 11:22.
However, the death of believers is precious in the sight of God (cf. Psalm 116:15) and we ought to look forward to dying as a promotion, not an end, but a new beginning of a higher and different way of living to the full, the way we were meant to live. Death is not a wall, but a door and D. L. Moody is quoted as saying, "This is my triumph, this is my coronation day! It is glorious!" Even Alfred, Lord Tennyson said, in his poem In Memoriam: "God's finger touched him, and he slept." Death is a promotion and Paul said that "to live is Christ, but to die is gain" in Phil. 1:21.
We are only glad that God hasn't given us over to death as chastisement, but as our promotion to glory, for "we should live every day as if it were our last day" (Matthew Henry quote). David went to be with the Lord in His timing: "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep..." (Acts 13:36, NKJV). In other words, when he had done what God had meant for him to do and God was done with him, God took him. God knows when we are ready, we don't, that's why suicide isn't the answer. God isn't in the business of taking lives prematurely: (Ezek. 18:32 (NASB): "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies..."). However, the day of death is better than the day of birth in God's eyes (cf. Eccl. 7:1). David said that with the Lord, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15, ESV). It is indeed better for the soul "to go to the house of mourning than the house of mirth" (cf. Eccl. 7:2), by the same token.
When you are confident of your coming promotion you are brave and live like David, when he told Jonathan: "There is but a step between me and death (cf. 1 Sam. 20:3). David lived his life on the edge and to the full! We only want to live a long life if we are pleasing to the Lord and doing His will; otherwise, what's the use? Is there a great reward in pursuing your own will? We are happiest as believers only when we've learned to serve and not to live selfishly and for our own good, but for the good of others.
Not to be morbid, but the understanding of what is on the "other side" must begin early in life and one must be realistic even with children to teach biblical mindset and preparation. Jesus Himself was the ultimate realist and He mentioned the grave and beyond, even hell more than heaven. Being prepared for the hereafter is not a matter of making a will and paying or preparing for one's final expenses via life insurance. Some people actually spend less time preparing for death than their annual vacation--this ought not to be so!
We all need to be assured of our salvation and know that God won't take us till we are ready in His timing if we are in His will. As Epictetus said, "I cannot escape death, but I can escape the fear of it." We should be confident in our Lord (i.e., that we've made our peace with God) that we would say with Robert Louis Stevenson, that, even if we woke up in hell we'd still believe in Him.
David thanked the Lord that, though he had been chastened severely, he had not been given over to death (cf. Psalm 118:18). There is a "sin which leads unto death," however, and John said not to pray for such a one (cf. 1 John 5:16). Even Christians can go too far and be removed by divine discipline of the Lord, that is why they, too, must live in the fear of the Lord and behold both the goodness and severity of the Lord per Romans 11:22.
However, the death of believers is precious in the sight of God (cf. Psalm 116:15) and we ought to look forward to dying as a promotion, not an end, but a new beginning of a higher and different way of living to the full, the way we were meant to live. Death is not a wall, but a door and D. L. Moody is quoted as saying, "This is my triumph, this is my coronation day! It is glorious!" Even Alfred, Lord Tennyson said, in his poem In Memoriam: "God's finger touched him, and he slept." Death is a promotion and Paul said that "to live is Christ, but to die is gain" in Phil. 1:21.
We are only glad that God hasn't given us over to death as chastisement, but as our promotion to glory, for "we should live every day as if it were our last day" (Matthew Henry quote). David went to be with the Lord in His timing: "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep..." (Acts 13:36, NKJV). In other words, when he had done what God had meant for him to do and God was done with him, God took him. God knows when we are ready, we don't, that's why suicide isn't the answer. God isn't in the business of taking lives prematurely: (Ezek. 18:32 (NASB): "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies..."). However, the day of death is better than the day of birth in God's eyes (cf. Eccl. 7:1). David said that with the Lord, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15, ESV). It is indeed better for the soul "to go to the house of mourning than the house of mirth" (cf. Eccl. 7:2), by the same token.
When you are confident of your coming promotion you are brave and live like David, when he told Jonathan: "There is but a step between me and death (cf. 1 Sam. 20:3). David lived his life on the edge and to the full! We only want to live a long life if we are pleasing to the Lord and doing His will; otherwise, what's the use? Is there a great reward in pursuing your own will? We are happiest as believers only when we've learned to serve and not to live selfishly and for our own good, but for the good of others.
David was glad God hadn't given him over to death because he then knew that he still had an opportunity to fulfill God's will; David was a man after God's own heart because he did all God's will. We should all hope and pray to go on to be with the Lord in His timing, for He makes all things beautiful in His time--i.e., we don't want to go before our time as Scripture would say.
In sum, let me quote an anecdote about Saint Francis of Assisi: "If you had one hour left to live, what would you do?" His answer, said while tilling his garden, was: "I would finish this row!" That's being prepared to die without unfinished business, unlike what God said to Hezekiah to "get his house in order" (cf. Isaiah 38:1), for he was about to die and not recover. Soli Deo Gloria!
In sum, let me quote an anecdote about Saint Francis of Assisi: "If you had one hour left to live, what would you do?" His answer, said while tilling his garden, was: "I would finish this row!" That's being prepared to die without unfinished business, unlike what God said to Hezekiah to "get his house in order" (cf. Isaiah 38:1), for he was about to die and not recover. Soli Deo Gloria!
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