Cemetery, graveyard. A place not so common to visit, unless for a reason. It’s where a man who breathes his last will head to, but no, it’s just where the physical mortal body will be buried.
I believe all of us have some forethought – the kind of job we will want to take up, the kind of person we want to marry, the kind of house we want to live in, the number of kids we want to have, the kind of retired life we want to live … But, how many have thought about what kind of death are we going to die? Or who are we willing to give up our lives for? I’m not sure about you, but I have pondered about this before, and a visit to my grandparents’ graveyard on Good Friday morning has further triggered me to think twice about life and death.
First, I am willing to die for Christ’s sake, that is irrefutable considering what he bears for me on the Cross, and every breath that I take is a mouthful of grace from Him. Next, I am willing to die for my wife, my parents, my children, people that I love… Yes I know that it is easier said than done, but I believe if I carry this thought with me and should I face a situation that requires my life, I will not be as hesitant, and of no regret. Consider this society, in the news, from talk of the town, we often hear someone or so and so dies from accident, heart attack, sickness, playing too much computer games/online, overeating … I mean, there are a myriad ways to die. Several years ago, an uncle collapsed on the stage in the church while leading a prayer meeting, and breathed his last. What a way to die.
Let’s die for a good purpose. Let’s die leaving a legacy behind and not a rotten record. Let’s die for something far greater and not for oneself. We all live once, and die once. Since we have only one life, what is worth chasing after? Fleeting pleasures, building an earthly home, wealth and fame? It’s not about how we start, but how we end. Paul doesn’t have a good start, perhaps worse than anyone of us, he persecuted Christians, he called himself the Chief of all sinners, yet in the end he said “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” ~ 2 Timothy 4:7
Remember today, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Son of God – Jesus died for you and me on the Cross, regardless if we know him personally or not. It’s done. It’s done for the sake of the world. Yet death could not hold Him down. He triumphs over death and darkness, and brings this hope and glory to those who place their faith and believe in Him.
“O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:55
Are you prepared to face your last breath?
St. Augustine used to say he did not know whether to call it a dying life or a living death, and I leave you the choice between those two expressions. This is certainly a dying life; its march is marked by graves. Nothing but a continuous miracle keeps any one of us from the sepulchre. Were omnipotence to stay its power but for a moment, earth would return to earth, and ashes to ashes. It is a dying life: and equally true is it that it is a living death. We are always dying. Every beating pulse we tell leaves but the number less: the more years we count in our life, the fewer remain in which we shall behold the light of day. ~ Charles Spurgeon
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ~ John 11:25-26
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