If you die before your time, they will call it tragic. In your own bed at home, full of years, friends and family members surrounding you, that is how people want to envision their last moments, when they will take the time to do so.
I am going to offer you two incidents that you may not like to read, or contemplate, I not only believe them, but I also believe they are truth according to the Word of God.
“And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (Deut. 34:7)
Moses walked up that mountain, just as strong and full of vigor as he was in his twenties, laid down in a cave where the Lord told him to, and God ended his life.
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” (Luke 23:46)
The Romans did not kill the Lord Jesus Christ, neither did the children of Israel. God killed Him. And not only did He kill His own Son, but it pleased Him to do so.
“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, (Isaiah 53:10a)
Not what some of you wanted to hear, was it?
Now I will place this before you, test your faith and see how you will accept it. If the Almighty decides that long life is not for you, if a car accident, or any accident befalls you, some incurable disease, or anything beyond that expectation of the fulness of an extended life befalls you, and you are indeed hid in Christ, is it the Most High that has determined to end your life?
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15)
The Living God does indeed kill people, the Scriptures are full of this truth, but does He do so to those who are hid in His Son, those who are the righteousness of Himself in His Son?
If you firmly believe in the truth of the following verse, presented here so very often in these letters to you, then why would you not think it a blessing to depart this earthly life, to leave your shell behind and be in the presence of unspeakable joy?
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21)
If you truly are a servant of the Almighty, then I can tell you exactly when you will die, right down to the day.
When your work for Him is finished.
Just like your Savior did.
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30)
So then, in reference to all that is written here, which is more important to you, the continuation of your life for as long as possible, or the fulfillment of the work set before you?
Now granted, we do not know when the tasks set before us will have been completed, when the intended goal has been reached, but He does, and this my friends is called faith.
Perhaps you will be blessed, and I honestly pray you will, to be able to recognize the completion of the work set before you just as Paul did.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” (2nd Tim. 4:7)
And I mean that in all sincerity, for I can think of no worse words to say in heaven in relation to the work set before each of us by the Lord than, “I wish I would have.”
If the Lord of Glory decides to end your life before what the world calls “the right time, a tragic end,” is that such a bad thing? Is not your death precious in His sight?
Every one of us looks forward with great anticipation to being in the presence of the Lamb of God, you just have to decide which is more important to you. Living for as long as possible, or living for His glory?
“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2nd Cor. 5:8)
