A Sobering Reality

Death is a sobering reality, a reality we often forget. We often live day by day with a sense of immortality in our minds. And although we aren't to live in fear, there is a Truth Scripture exhorts us towards, a Truth that reminds us of where our focus must be during all of life's seasons.

In Ecclesiastes 7:2, the wise Solomon speaks this weighty words:

"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart."

I can remember it like it was yesterday. Before I even got to the hospital I knew, I knew I would never see my grandpa this side of heaven again, and the pain of that was unbearable. I don't think I have ever cried so hard in my life, a sort of weeping that pains every fiber of your being, my heart literally hurt. And yet, in the midst of it all, I had an indescribable peace and joy that I couldn't explain. It didn't remove the pain I was enduring, or stop the tears I shed for days, but it shifted my focus from the temporal to the eternal. In that season I was struck head on with a reality I had never had to face before, that reality that Solomon speaks of in Ecclesiastes 7, that death is real, and for every person that ever walks the face of this earth.

In the midst of all the tears I was reminded of two crucial things; his salvation (and mine), and the reality of the Great Commission. The joy and burden of both weighed heavy on my heart. It was almost if I had been jolted into the realm of reality I hadn't wanted to face. The fact that I didn't have "forever", and the need for purpose in my pursuit of this life. Why was I here? Merely to bring glory to God through the exclamation of His precious and powerful Gospel, the hope that is found in Jesus Christ alone. My grandpa had been saved for less than a year when He went home to be with His Savior. He had heard the Gospel countless times in his 60 some odd years and rejected it again and again, and yet by the sovereign hand of the Almighty, He had been sustained, God's patience had endured until the day He was given eyes to see and a heart to respond. The power of the Gospel was displayed in the death of my grandpa. There was true joy in knowing I would see Him again.

So what's the point of all of this you might ask? The point is that we MUST refocus our minds and hearts on the eternal. We must realize that death is imminent for all men and we don't know the timing of the Almighty for each individual, it could be today, it could be tomorrow, or it could be in 50 years from now. But regardless, as believers we have been given a commission, to use TODAY to be a light for Him, to take the opportunities to share His Truth, to pray for the lost and unsaved in our midst, and to trust the God who is mighty to save. Marvel at the life you have been given because it is the grace of God, and only that, that sustains your every breath. Stand in awe of the salvation which He has graciously given you, and don't take that for granted. Be reminded in life and death of the reality of the temporary and the eternity of the eternal...and live for what is imperishable not for what moths and dust will destroy. Think on these things regularly, and never lose sight of the hope on which you stand.

And for the unsaved, let death be a wake up call to you. Recognize the reality that you are hanging by a mere thread over the pit of hell and it is but by the mercy and grace of God that you still live and breath. KNOW that He is ready to save you, His love seen through the Gospel of Jesus Christ enables your sin to be forgiven and for the perfect righteousness of Christ to be put on your account. In a moment your destiny can change. Don't believe the lies of the enemy that you have more time. Time is in the hands of the One who made you, and death is real, and never timely. I plead with you to repent, to turn from your sins and to put your trust and confidence fully in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Your eternal destiny depends on it...

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter,and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." - 1 Corinthians 15:3-8