How to die!

        We certainly don’t mean taking your own life so let’s get that thought out of the way! We mean how to be ready. According to Jesus, the critical and deciding factor is, “You must be born again!”

        Obviously not one of us can talk from personal experience of death. So far in my life, I’ve only ever seen one person die and that was my father-in-law, William Spencer. He was living with his daughter and was put in a bed on the main floor so he could be with the family. As everyone sat around and chatted he was breathing softly, then suddenly he wasn’t breathing at all. It was the quietest, gentlest passage to meet his Lord.

        So, on the “earthward” side, be ready to give up everyone you know—spouse, children, grandchildren and friends; your familiar home and land; all your hobbies or collections (books, gardens, flowers, music, cars); and all your bank accounts and investments.

        On the “heavenward” side, expect to see Jesus first, then maybe you will see some of those glories we read about in the Revelation—the lord “who holds the seven stars in his right hand”, “your victor’s crown”, the One “whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze”, “the book of life”, “the temple of my God”, “a throne in heaven”, “a sea of glass, clear as crystal”. There is every reason to expect to see people like Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah and especially all our loved ones who have gone before in Christ.

        Getting back to Scripture, Stephen, as he was dying, said, “Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56) As the Apostle Paul neared the end of his race, he said, “the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day…” (2Tim.4:7, 8) The apostle John, as he neared the end, said, “When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves.” (1 John 3: 2,3) And in his last letter, Peter said, “I know that I will soon put [the tent of this body] aside…Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (2 Peter1:14; 3:14)

        Finally, our Lord Himself cautioned that “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Mark 4:19)

        Some of us older Christians seem to forget or block out our mortality. We start to live as if we have fifty more years of good health and good income. Maybe it’s time we took charge of our lives, the way these outstanding New Testament believers have done.       

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