NB: not a thread about suicide
I mean as Christians, we are supposed to ponder on the shortness of our earthly life versus eternal life.
I tend to be obsessive about it though. Wondering about the last hour of my death. How much faith I will have. How much courage. How close I will feel to God.
Some will see it as negative I suppose. But I think it is only natural to be concerned about it.
I think about it every day, to be honest. Oh dear!
I think you would have to be dead to not think about death. Even more important to the Christian, however, is to think about life; living it and leading it.
I once counseled a boy who was always offering excuses for failure. I told him this -
"John was a very conscientious student, and good at everything he did. And he went to work at a newly acquired job, after school and between grades, during summers. He was so well liked his boss offered to hire him upon graduation, full time, and with very good benefits.
Upon graduation, he was expected early one Monday morning of the following week.
His early reporting time of 7:a.m. came and went, as also did 8:00a.m. and 9:1.m.
At 10:30 a.m. John showed up looking quite sheepish, and told his boss, "Sorry I'm late, but my car kept taking me down to the beach."
When his boss stopped laughing, he said "YOU'RE FIRED!"
The problem was, John's car had no say in where it went, other than to breakdown completely, in which case John would have to have it repaired.
I then told the student, "raise your hand" and he did. I asked him "Is that hand you?"
He appeared to not understand the question. I restated it - "Is that hand you, or is that your hand."
Upon this clarification, he responded quite easily, "It's my hand."
"Right," I told him.
"When your car gets dirty, do you wash it?" wondering where this was going, he responded "Of course. Everyone does."
I asked "When it get low on fuel, do you buy fuel?"
He said "Of course, everyone does."
I asked "when you had to go to school, how did you persuade your car to take you where you needed to be?"
He looked sheepish again, and said "I don't know." But he would not look me in the eye.
I pointed out to him, "That body that caused that car to keep taking you to the beach is not YOU."
He looked perplexed and asked "Whose is it?"
I quoted (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) to him, and explained
"That hand is not you, and it is not your body, it is the Lord's servant, given to you as an aid in service to God."
"That body in which you dwell for a time, is simply what God provided to you for a temporary
transportation, but your transportation is not in charge, YOU are."
Many people spend a lifetime subject to the whims and foolishness of their bodies, and whine "I can't help myself," or, "I have an addiction I can't get over." Neither of which is true.
They are simply letting their transportation lead their life.
The Christian does not. He/She CANNOT. Because you are not your own, you were bought with a price. And YOU are in charge, not your body with its weaknesses and temptations.
Thinking about death should serve to remind us of living, and never be a problem to the Christian.
Personally, I am not afraid of dying, I am much more afraid of being killed. Like Islamic activity, for example. I just want to be ready, and remain faithful till my Father calls me home.
