Death

We had a really sad church service on Sunday. A young, 26 year old man who had only been married for two years died of cancer. It was very somber, and it was all I could do to keep from crying myself, even though I didn't know him.

I think that, as hard as it may seem, we should think of death as something joyful, as well as sad. We mourn for those loved ones who have gone to be with the savior, but we should also think that they have gone to be with Christ.

It is hard as a human being, but we need to be satisfied with death at any time if that is what God gives us. I think of the people at school I spend time with like Cathy, Jenna, and Katie, as well as my father, sister, mother, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and realize that if God wants to take me, I will have to give up seeing them again until they die. Yet, that is what our ultimate desire is to be-that is, to be with Christ, and honor him forever. Consider David and his psalm:

Psalm 27:4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.

Sometimes we become so selfish when we think that God cannot take us whenever he wants to do so. We should be ready to go to be with God at any time and willing to leave all of the things we love in this world, for the greater state of being perfected, praising God for all eternity in heaven. This should really hit home to people our age as we are not too much younger than this man. What do we ultimately seek? God's perfect will that might involve our death any second? Or our own selfish desires. There is everything right about loving people and caring about them. However, when we place our desire and love for another human being above our desire and love for Christ, we have just commited the sin of idolatry. If God tells you that you will die the night before you were planning to go out with that one special girl, then you need to be ready to go and be with Christ. If you haven't seen friends and family for years, and you are going to visit them, and God comes to take you away, you should desire that the most.

We all have to die someday. What it will be like on that day, I don't know. When I see my friends and loved ones before passing for the last time into eternity, I can imagine it will be sad in many ways. However, what a blessed thing the death of a Christian is! We go to be with our Lord and our savior to sing his praises for all eternity! I pray that we as Christians will not be willing to trade that desire in our hearts for anything this world has to offer.