Pastor Rubi said something interesting in Sunday School this morning. He said that not everyone who is saved will live until the rapture. That some of us will die first. This struck me in a strange way. Several times, while I have been sick, I wondered if my life was over and this is how I was going to die. A friend rebuked me for thinking like that. It made me wonder what it must be like to suddenly realize that your life is over.
My wife died alone in our bed. No one but God heard her final words on Earth. I wonder what she said. I wonder what went through her mind. I wonder if she had time to contemplate what was about to happen, And I wonder if, once her life on earth ended, how quickly she realized where she was and what had happened. Her sorrow was suddenly turned to joy.
Our attitude about death seems to be rooted in fear and bad doctrine. God does not give us fear, and we have a living hope. But deep down I wonder if we avoid preparing to die because we are afraid to die. What is the secret to conquering fear? Knowledge. Knowing what happens when we die and what the Bible says about death and dying ought to help us not fear death. Right doctrine, not bad teaching from unbiblical sources, is important.
The Bible mostly talks about the life and ministry of people who are now dead. Even Jesus had to die first. So we have truth to help us face the uncertainty of death. It is uncertain only in the sense that few of us know the day of our death. Some die suddenly, some die slowly.
The time to get right with God is now, while you are still alive and able to decide.
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