Memoir 1, Death

June 24, 2015
2128

Well, this first topic might be considered rather dark, because I'm dying.  Not from any disease, or cancer, or any other sort of terminal ailment.  I'm a healthy young man with no terminal disease, but I am dying.  We are all dying.  We never know when death's grip will take our bodies, and our spirits departing wherever God decides them to be.  We never think of death until it happens to somebody close to us or strangers around us, or a personal near death experience of our own.  Whether it's a car accident, a suicide, a diagnosis of a terminal illness that happens to us or someone else and is inoperable, a terrorist attack (foreign or domestic), an abortion, or a shooting massacre, we never ruminate upon death unless it affects us personally or our surrounding environment.  Death is very serious, and it will happen to every single one of us.  It's because it is so serious and frightening that I think we choose to ignore it until it finally comes to take us or someone close to us (or not so close when it's a massacre, or the death of a favoured celebrity).  We have to prepare for it.  Living in acceptance of it is to live free of it — the fear of it, the grip of it — just as Jesus Christ has defeated death.

In the U.S. Army, statistics show that more soldiers die in a car accident when they're home than they do in combat in the Middle East.  I drive my Jeep to work every day, and I could easily die in a car accident to any variety of causes.  I say that not because death can take us at any moment, but because driving a vehicle is really dangerous (hence the statistical fact I mentioned).  It could be from wrong judgement calls on the road or poor road conditions that cause me to crash and die.  While I was in the army I would tell my mother these statistics all the time and that technically makes me safer in Afghanistan than I am at home, especially since my MOS was a non-combatant MOS (the Army Bands).  Anyway, I do not fear death.  I acknowledge its possibility, but that does not mean I'm an unnecessary risk taker.  I'll tell you why I don't fear death.

Many people, even Christians, fear death, and they have their irrational reasons.  Some fear it because they're unaware of what comes after death, or simply don't believe in Heaven or Hell.  There are Christians who fear it because they doubt their salvation — they live in so much guilt of their sins that they doubt God's mercy and therefore doubt they'll inherit God's kingdom as co-heirs of Christ, which is a huge problem.  Some of them read the book of Revelation and fear His coming, the loss of the earth, and ultimately their own death.  The coming of the Messiah is supposed to be a glorious and victorious event!  Not one of fear!  It's important to remember that nothing can separate us from our salvation except yourself if you continuously reject Christ.  Romans 8:35-39, "Who can separate us from the love of Christ?  Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:  Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.  No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!"

What a glorious reality!  What a marvellous victory we have over death through Christ!  There is not a single created thing on this earth or even in Heaven or Hell that can separate us from Jesus Christ who is our salvation.  This is why I do not fear death.  I know where I'm going once I die, and it's a heck of a lot better than this world we live in now.  So, I'm looking forward to dying.  Again, this doesn't mean that I take unnecessary risks.  If I can avoid danger, I will.  Just trust God with your life and your salvation, and He will surely preserve it.  He gave you life and He gave you salvation, so certainly He can take care of your life and give you the salvation He promised.