"What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?" (Psalm 89:48).
"There is but a step between me and death" (1 Samuel 20:3).
"For it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the Judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (cf. Psalm 116:15).
EMPHASIS MINE. It has been observed, that if you can direct a man's thoughts toward eternity, you are well on the way to converting him.
"[Prepare] to meet your God, O Israel" (cf. Amos 4:12). Avoidance of the issue or being in denial is a cop-out and defense mechanism that doesn't work, because, sooner or later, we will all meet our Maker and have either a judgment day or a coronation day. We must learn to put eternity in perspective and live in light of eternity--we are only passing through, as it were! Remember, it has wisely been said, "The only thing certain about life is death." We all have the final appointment with death and no one knows when it is for them--he must always be vigilant.
There is the story of how much of a welcome Teddy Roosevelt got in a ticker-tape parade in Time's Square, and at the same time a missionary was coming home to his family: He wondered why he didn't receive such a glorious welcome as this "hero" and God told him: [Don't make yourself too comfortable or make yourself at home!] "You are not home yet!" We must learn to live our lives on this earth as foreigners and see that God just gives us spiritual green cards to prepare us for eternity. See yourself as a citizen of heaven!
Matthew Henry said that it ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day. This is highly practical and a matter of applying the Word to our lives. Not wanting to tackle this issue, or to avoid it, is cowardly and escaping reality, so to speak. If you are not ready for death, you are not really living; for only those ready to die can enjoy life to the max. If we can affirm with Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith..." (2 Timothy 4:7).
The day of our departure to be with the Lord is meant to be more joyous than our day of birth! I like Alfred, Lord Tennyson's wording in In Memoriam: "God's finger touched him and he slept." Life is not a fluke and there is an intricate plan of God for each of us, and when we realize it we are really "Living" with a capital L. Some people are merely existing, they are not living, because the true secret to life eternal in its fullness is to know God ("I am come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly," says Jesus; starting now, not in eternity).
You can spend your life without accomplishing anything and it may turn out to be empty pursuits done in vain. I am not against doing good deeds or works, just those done in the flesh! We will only be rewarded for the fruit of the Spirit that we accomplish through the power of the Spirit (Hosea 14:8; Isaiah 26:12). Paul said in Romans 15:18, "I will not venture to speak of anything, but what Christ has accomplished through me [as a vessel of honor] "prepared unto good works" per Ephesians 2:10). Note that we are not saved "by works," but "unto [for] works," and we will be recompensed fairly beyond our wildest dreams.
The sad thing is that most people don't know they are wasting their life on worthless goals or even godless pleasures. A life without God-oriented purpose is petty and trivial and will count for nothing in light of eternity. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate of the UK, said that he looked forward to meeting his "pilot" when he had "crossed the bar." "Death, be not proud!" Sir Walter Scott said, "Time and tide wait for no man." We never know when our hour has come--we must be ready.
Death is a door and not a wall. It is the final curtain call of this existence. It is nothing to be afraid of for us believers because Christians don't really die--it is just the separation of the soul from the higher level of dimension in living like color TV is a higher level than black and white, and likewise, H.D. and 3-D to boot! We never reach perfect sanctification in this life where we can say we have "arrived," (cf. Phil. 3:13) but in glory, we will be without sin and yet totally free--we won't want to sin either.
To some it may seem morbid (it is being oriented to reality and being well-adjusted and victorious over the devil who holds people captive by a fear of death) and to make the final preparations and provide for final expenses, or to dwell on your wishes, even sharing them to intimate friends and family there comes a time when we must face reality that we are getting up there and could go at any time to meet our Lord, and our work is done--we are the ultimate realists. We don't want to be preoccupied with the subject but examples of what ought to be done as an example--this is our last testimony and chance to say something in our death. How many believers have made funeral arrangements, or have life insurance, or have gone through the trouble of making a will and appointing an executor? Having done this, I can reassure you that it is God's will and there is great peace of mind in not leaving the final expenses to family and burdening them to worry about the details in such a trying and lamentable moment as when a dear one passes away.
I have talked to some guys and they simply don't care what happens to them after they die, but this is an unbiblical attitude. There is such as thing as being irresponsible and making that final impression of how people remember you are important. In the Bible, God places a premium on giving men a proper burial and I recall the wicked Jezebel that the dogs ate her body and she never was buried. When God curses people often He says they won't receive a proper burial--this is an eternal stigma, and we are to honor all men and give every man in the image of God, no matter his status a proper burial, and to be ready for any contingency. We are stewards of what God has blessed us with and will be held accountable to the end, even our foresight, like God, said to Hezekiah: "Get your house in order, you are about to die!"
Try thinking of the departing to be with the Lord as our final promotion and being given our ultimate reward (1 Cor. 2:9 says, "Eye has not heard, not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for [us]"). Be ready! St. Francis of Assisi was asked what he'd do with one hour left to live: "I'd finish this row [he was gardening that day]." And in that day, ye shall ask me nothing" (John 16:23): Our questions are answered.
Our departure is meant to be glorious and a celebration of our life and we will see how God has always been at work in our lives "to do and to will according to His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). William James, the psychologist, said, "The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it." The consequences of our personal goals will not last as long as the accomplishment of God's will in our life--the goal should be to find that for your life and be faithful in it. We are all living on borrowed time, as they say, and sooner or later you will realize that disease like cancer is not terminal--life is! We cannot escape the Grim Reaper and are literally all on Death Row! The best philosophy and theology is to be ready to expire at any time, and that gives us a brave heart. Soli Deo Gloria!
"There is but a step between me and death" (1 Samuel 20:3).
"For it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the Judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (cf. Psalm 116:15).
EMPHASIS MINE. It has been observed, that if you can direct a man's thoughts toward eternity, you are well on the way to converting him.
"[Prepare] to meet your God, O Israel" (cf. Amos 4:12). Avoidance of the issue or being in denial is a cop-out and defense mechanism that doesn't work, because, sooner or later, we will all meet our Maker and have either a judgment day or a coronation day. We must learn to put eternity in perspective and live in light of eternity--we are only passing through, as it were! Remember, it has wisely been said, "The only thing certain about life is death." We all have the final appointment with death and no one knows when it is for them--he must always be vigilant.
There is the story of how much of a welcome Teddy Roosevelt got in a ticker-tape parade in Time's Square, and at the same time a missionary was coming home to his family: He wondered why he didn't receive such a glorious welcome as this "hero" and God told him: [Don't make yourself too comfortable or make yourself at home!] "You are not home yet!" We must learn to live our lives on this earth as foreigners and see that God just gives us spiritual green cards to prepare us for eternity. See yourself as a citizen of heaven!
Matthew Henry said that it ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day. This is highly practical and a matter of applying the Word to our lives. Not wanting to tackle this issue, or to avoid it, is cowardly and escaping reality, so to speak. If you are not ready for death, you are not really living; for only those ready to die can enjoy life to the max. If we can affirm with Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith..." (2 Timothy 4:7).
The day of our departure to be with the Lord is meant to be more joyous than our day of birth! I like Alfred, Lord Tennyson's wording in In Memoriam: "God's finger touched him and he slept." Life is not a fluke and there is an intricate plan of God for each of us, and when we realize it we are really "Living" with a capital L. Some people are merely existing, they are not living, because the true secret to life eternal in its fullness is to know God ("I am come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly," says Jesus; starting now, not in eternity).
You can spend your life without accomplishing anything and it may turn out to be empty pursuits done in vain. I am not against doing good deeds or works, just those done in the flesh! We will only be rewarded for the fruit of the Spirit that we accomplish through the power of the Spirit (Hosea 14:8; Isaiah 26:12). Paul said in Romans 15:18, "I will not venture to speak of anything, but what Christ has accomplished through me [as a vessel of honor] "prepared unto good works" per Ephesians 2:10). Note that we are not saved "by works," but "unto [for] works," and we will be recompensed fairly beyond our wildest dreams.
The sad thing is that most people don't know they are wasting their life on worthless goals or even godless pleasures. A life without God-oriented purpose is petty and trivial and will count for nothing in light of eternity. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate of the UK, said that he looked forward to meeting his "pilot" when he had "crossed the bar." "Death, be not proud!" Sir Walter Scott said, "Time and tide wait for no man." We never know when our hour has come--we must be ready.
Death is a door and not a wall. It is the final curtain call of this existence. It is nothing to be afraid of for us believers because Christians don't really die--it is just the separation of the soul from the higher level of dimension in living like color TV is a higher level than black and white, and likewise, H.D. and 3-D to boot! We never reach perfect sanctification in this life where we can say we have "arrived," (cf. Phil. 3:13) but in glory, we will be without sin and yet totally free--we won't want to sin either.
To some it may seem morbid (it is being oriented to reality and being well-adjusted and victorious over the devil who holds people captive by a fear of death) and to make the final preparations and provide for final expenses, or to dwell on your wishes, even sharing them to intimate friends and family there comes a time when we must face reality that we are getting up there and could go at any time to meet our Lord, and our work is done--we are the ultimate realists. We don't want to be preoccupied with the subject but examples of what ought to be done as an example--this is our last testimony and chance to say something in our death. How many believers have made funeral arrangements, or have life insurance, or have gone through the trouble of making a will and appointing an executor? Having done this, I can reassure you that it is God's will and there is great peace of mind in not leaving the final expenses to family and burdening them to worry about the details in such a trying and lamentable moment as when a dear one passes away.
I have talked to some guys and they simply don't care what happens to them after they die, but this is an unbiblical attitude. There is such as thing as being irresponsible and making that final impression of how people remember you are important. In the Bible, God places a premium on giving men a proper burial and I recall the wicked Jezebel that the dogs ate her body and she never was buried. When God curses people often He says they won't receive a proper burial--this is an eternal stigma, and we are to honor all men and give every man in the image of God, no matter his status a proper burial, and to be ready for any contingency. We are stewards of what God has blessed us with and will be held accountable to the end, even our foresight, like God, said to Hezekiah: "Get your house in order, you are about to die!"
Try thinking of the departing to be with the Lord as our final promotion and being given our ultimate reward (1 Cor. 2:9 says, "Eye has not heard, not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for [us]"). Be ready! St. Francis of Assisi was asked what he'd do with one hour left to live: "I'd finish this row [he was gardening that day]." And in that day, ye shall ask me nothing" (John 16:23): Our questions are answered.
Our departure is meant to be glorious and a celebration of our life and we will see how God has always been at work in our lives "to do and to will according to His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). William James, the psychologist, said, "The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it." The consequences of our personal goals will not last as long as the accomplishment of God's will in our life--the goal should be to find that for your life and be faithful in it. We are all living on borrowed time, as they say, and sooner or later you will realize that disease like cancer is not terminal--life is! We cannot escape the Grim Reaper and are literally all on Death Row! The best philosophy and theology is to be ready to expire at any time, and that gives us a brave heart. Soli Deo Gloria!