Most people do not have a clue, they have never in their life grasped onto the reality that they are alive and that life is to be lived. They simply repeat the same routine every day with little variance, accepting what is given them, never really coming to grips or desiring to face the reality that they will die.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Heb. 9:27)
Oh, they may contemplate that final moment with some semblance of the truth of it, but like the soldier on the battlefield, they believe there is no bullet with their name on it. Most avoid the contemplation of death for it brings certain thoughts of uncertainty, at best they hope they have lived a good enough life if indeed there is a God in heaven so that they will be accepted by Him.
I have met few people in this life who claim to know Jesus Christ as Savior who will even discuss that moment at length, they are more than willing to speak of what comes afterward, but not of that door, not of those final moments of life here. “And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.” (2nd Kings 20:6)
Like King Hezekiah they want more but profess a desire to be with the Lord, they speak of heaven and its wonders yet do all they can to remain here for as long as possible, unlike Paul’s words in Philippians 1:23, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:”
The routine of daily life brings them a form of security, but rarely does that routine involve reaching out to the lost, seeking for those who do not yet know Christ as Lord, encouraging those that do, or rebuking and reproving those that dishonor His Holy name. The repetition of life is not concerned with the things of God, but with the continuation of self, and that life with Christ as an afterthought.
Their usual reasoning, that which I call an excuse, is that it is not so much the moment of death that causes them to not consider that door that all must pass through, but the possible physical pain that may be involved with it, the suffering that may arrive with it. I would contend, although I pray that I am wrong in this, that many who have these fears have never experienced the truth of 2nd Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” They do not witness for the Lord, they do not seek the lost, they have not gone out into the world, much less their own neighborhood for the glory of God because persecution means pain, and pain reminds them of their mortality.
They just want to be the best Christian they can be while living that repetitive life that focuses on the security of the continuance of self, and not others, save for in their own imaginations.
Behind the closed doors of the church on Sunday morning, with all the other “believers” is where they serve, not in the world, not in enemy territory, not where the danger of death abides.
There is no assurance of salvation in those who fear that moment, there is a hope that they were good enough Christians, that they performed the obligations set before them well, except of course for that one, risking their life for the glory of God and for the honor of the Lamb.
Dying to self means dying to this life, even the continuation of it, it means you do not care if you live or die, as long as God is glorified. “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8)
