How much time do you spend thinking about death, not just your own demise, but of your family and friends, of the ceasing of existence from this plane of existence. Not much, I would guess, very few people do, there is life to be lived, and that to the fullest extent possible until that moment comes, or we are physically incapable of doing so.
There is little contentment in the minds of most people when they consider their last moments, instead there is a type of anxiousness, even unto the point of denial, it is not a moment many care to consider at length. We mourn, for a short time, the fallen tree that stood strong for over a hundred years, perhaps a little longer when we see a small kitten that failed in its attempt to cross the road, when a close friend dies we grieve for an extended period of time, but the death of a child or loving spouse can take years, even a lifetime to come to grips with. The proximity of our relationships is what merits the extent of our grief, our attachment to an item or individual is what governs our grieving time, and the emotional context to which it inhibits our daily life.
“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” (Romans 12:15) Around two-hundred thousand people die in any given day on this planet, I do not know how many animals die or how many trees fall, but I do know that it is not within the contextual structure of any man to grieve for them all every day, and so we limit our sorrows to those that are relative to our lives, and this standard is always based on our emotional attachments. Since God told Adam “The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” (Gen. 2:17) we have known death, but in and for the most part it affects the majority of the population of this planet only in the cessation of the flesh, which perhaps in a sense is a blessing, for if we were to truly come to the realization that all those whose names are not written in the Lambs Book of Life are spiritually dead, there would be no end to our grief, it would consume us to the point of utmost despair.
We live amongst the walking dead, they know life only according to their five senses, they do not know they are dead in their sins, that the wrath of God abides on them, (John 3:36) and yet above all they fear the death of the flesh. It is not only ridiculous in the extreme for the born-again believer to fear death, it is a sin against God. To attempt to escape the inevitable is both foolish in mind and deed, to hide from that which will occur inevitably is to resist the will of God in our efforts for Him, and to continue to place ourselves on the throne of our life. No follower of Jesus Christ can say “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” (Phil. 1:21) and fear the death of the flesh, it is impossible to do so.
To flee from any task that Almighty God has placed before you because of the possibility that you may die while doing that task is to say to our Lord and Master “No. I will serve, but not up to that point.” Fear is not a sin my friends, but the actions or inactions when we are called by the Lord to accomplish a task for Him that may end our existence here is. “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the LORD.” (2 Cor. 5:8) There is one death that nearly every single person on the planet refuses to discuss at length, and that is their own. I have met few things more pitiful in my life than believers who will praise His name every Sunday morning, sing the songs about the glory that is awaiting them, but will not discuss that final door that must be passed thru to get there, much less show any real faith in the possibility that He may call them to walk through that final door serving Him.
A great, old age with family and friends surrounding us while we simply pull our feet up into the bed, close our eyes and fall asleep for the last time, that is what they want, and they want it along with the thoughts that they were profitable servants for the Lord. Few Christians die this way, and fewer still are profitable for the kingdom. Harsh words, I know, but in this unworthy servant’s life that I have led, I have seen the truth of these words numerous times. Death is to be avoided at all cost while serving the Lord, such is the way of many of those who call Jesus Savior, serving Him in the safety and security of this life has taken precedence over “And they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Rev. 12:11)
These have not turned from Him, they are His children and He is their God, but instead of being humble men and women of valor, they are scared children who still love their lives more than they love Him, and it is proven nearly every time the subject of death is broached. Try it sometime, attempt to have a conversation with anyone you know who is a born-again believer on the subject of their own death, the moment their flesh ceases to exist, and see if they can have a faith-filled, logical deductive conversation about it for more than five minutes. “Morbid” is generally the term I hear, “Not something I need to think about right now,” “That’s in God’s hands,” excuses because of their fear made to sound like wise rationalizations.
“To live is Christ, to die is scary, and I don’t want to talk about it.”
“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Phil. 3:3) And I believe in some of these brothers and sisters the flesh still controls the mind, and the spirit within a man sometimes listens to the flesh more than it does to the Holy Spirit. The way of your death is unimportant, it has been set by God before you were born, your reaction to it is what matters. I have prayed one and only one prayer in response to the end of my life here, that I do not dishonor God in any way when that time comes. A Christians life should not end in regret my friends, nor should it be lived in fear of any kind. If you walk in the confidence “That he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” (Phil. 1:6) then all fear has been assuaged, left at the foot of the cross, no longer a burden of any kind with what the thoughts of your final day will be, but one to look forward to with rejoicing, with great anticipation. If you are not living for Christ, then your death will be no gain, it will remain your deepest fear, and those who still fear do not know the “Perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)
Prepare for that final day every day, and you will have a renewed vigor within you to live for Him to the fullest extent in every moment.
