The Imminent Inevitable

"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement, " 
Hebrews 9:27

In the brief time I have today, I wanted to offer a reminder of something I myself have been very unexpectedly reminded of recently. It is this: the reality of death.

Perhaps it sounds a bit morbid or uncomfortable, maybe even a little unnecessary to talk about. However, it is arguably much worse to carry out our lives as if dying is a distant, unlikely, almost insignificant reality which only preoccupies the hearts and minds of the pessimistic, and not normal people. Nevertheless, this is a guarantee: unless Christ returns in your lifetime, you will die. You will. It cannot be avoided, only postponed at best (from a purely temporal standpoint). It is not unrealistic or pessimistic to live aware of that fact.


So, since it is a fact, I wanted to offer three things to bear in mind while we're still breathing and have opportunity to do so.

1) Take God seriously
When you haven't encountered significant trials, it is easier to view God as concerned for your best temporal interest. He is like the sovereign welfare checker who doesn't really want you to get hurt or have a hard time in life. However, we must realize that the same God who gives life and good things, takes life and good things and gives evil and hardship when He pleases - and without owing us an explanation. There was a man named Job who had similar concepts cross his mind a time or two, right?

"But he (Job) said to her (his wife), "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips." ~ Job 2:10

"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him. ~ Job 13:15

It is true that He "clothes the grass of the field", but it is also true that that grass "is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace" - and God doesn't stop it. The same God who clothes the grass lets it fade and be destroyed. It is worth remembering that the same God you pray to is the God who killed thousands of people as a demonstration of His person:

"For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements - I am the LORD." ~ Exodus 12:12

Although He provided a means of evading His fatal visit, don't forget that it was from Himself that God delivered those who obeyed Him. To put it this way, God is much more dangerous than the cosmic care-bear He is all too often imagined to be.

2) Take sin seriously
Judgement is coming. You don't want to live with eternal regret (Luke 16:24). Your Judge takes sin seriously, so should you.

Consider the words of Solomon:

"Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." ~ Proverbs 11:4

"¹³ The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. ¹⁴ For God will bring every act to judgement, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil." ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

 

3) Take God's Word seriously
We are familiar with God's words to Israel in Isaiah 66:2~

"'For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,' declares the LORD. 'But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.'"

You don't want to die getting God wrong. Not that you will realistically have a completely spotless theology in one lifetime, but neither do you want to spend your life embracing and promoting some erroneous belief that was wrong in the first place. You are never saved by error, and life is too short and eternity too long to be careless with God's word.

All said and done, we must know that sobriety and somberness are not unwanted character defects, nor are they plagues to your attitude or outlook on life. To put it in the words of Solomon again:

"²It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. ³Sorrow is better than laughter, for when the face is sad a heart may be happy. ⁴The mind of the wise in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure." ~ Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

Death is inevitable, and often unpredictable. You cannot avoid it, only ignore it for a while. Our lives are just a vapor:

"¹³Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.'¹⁴ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow, You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" ~ James 4:13-15 

 Even if you are in the early stages of 'vaporhood', don't be so short-sighted as to forget that your life will eventually end. It's only a matter of time. Remember while you still have the chance.