On Life, Death and Beauty

Death....  It forces our attention to the irreducible minimality of life--the stark reality that often what we consider important in life is really not important at all.  A confrontation with death awakens us to the fact that the movies we have watched, the music we have listened to, the games we have played, all the things we have done out of a selfish motive have absolutely no value.  Two things become of paramount importance when death faces us.  First, our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Second, the legacy we have left behind.

Death....  Its beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.  For those who squandered their life selfishly and wastefully, death is an ugly monstrosity--a beast to be feared and loathed.  For the Christian who has given his life completely to the Father and has endevoured to live selflessly and circumspectly, death is a beautiful creation.  Not a thing of bondage but a thing that frees us from mortality and introduces us to eternal life with those we love the most, first of whom is Christ, our Saviour.

Death....  It is the final step of our pilgrimage.  It is the vehicle that transports us to our final destination.  That destination is dependent upon the course we have chosen for our lives--essentially selfish or selfless.  In Philippians 3:20 Paul speaks a powerful message to Christians.

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.  (NLT)

We are citizens of Heaven!  That means that even though death is often portrayed as a thing of power, a thing of loneliness, a thing to be feared, as Christians, we need not fear.  We are citizens of Heaven.  Because of this our hearts may rejoice with Paul when he says,

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (I Corinthians 15:53-57 KJV)

There is one last verse in that chapter that is a powerful encouragement and admonition.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.  (I Corinthians 15:58 KJV)

We labor not in vain!  Death has no victory!  The grave will hold only our mortality.

Death....  Its beauty really is in the eye of the beholder....

To Live To Die

Tonight I feel the need to die.

Not in a physical sense of course.  That is not for me to decide, and I'd just as soon live awhile longer.  But in a spiritual sense…I need to die.  There are some things pulling on my heart that must be surrendered to Christ.  My will on these matters must be given up.  I sense a struggle inside--a struggle between my own way and the way of Christ.  See…the interesting thing about it is, I don't even know that what I want is something contrary to the will of God.  Really I don't even know for sure that I want what I think I may want.  But I feel that the issue is not so much what I want as that I want it.  There is a struggle inside that says, "If you don't take this opportunity, you're going to miss it, and there will never be anything better."  But I don't feel the go ahead from God on these things. 

And so…I must die.  My dreams must be sacrificed so that they will not be in the way of God's greater plans.  For all I know, the things I want are included in God's plan at some point, but they may not be.  If not, I know He has something far better than anything I can conjure up.  I would hate to miss God's best because I wouldn't give up my little dreams.

See part of the reason I need to die is because the fact that I'm scared of missing a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity indicates a lack of trust in God--an attitude that says God may not update me on some step I should be taking.  It's putting myself above God in a sense because it's saying that I may know better than Him or that there is something I should know that He's not telling me. 

A walk with Christ demands my full allegiance, my unquestioning surrender, my resolute trust.  It requires a death to my desires, plans, and the things I think would be best.  But through this death is the path to life--life that will be more fulfilling than anything I have ever known.  Only believe….

"I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me."  (Galatians 2:20 CEV)

Death

Death—a painful atrophy in life’s ethereal poise;

A fatal caveat served without mercy, without choice;

A de facto mystery with no respect for rank or age;

A supernatural pen that inscribes the final page.

A melancholy foe who wins each battle fought;

Who alters what once might have been into what now is not.

A sharp and final finish that no soul can comprehend;

A point of no return, indelible—the end.

And if it actually were the end, life’s aim would be obtuse.

And every thought-up sacred creed unveiled as a ruse.

Incalculable hours spent in study, prayer, and thought

Would suddenly lose value, debunked as a plot.

Fanatics who for many years held true midst shameful mocking

Would crumble with their shattered hopes—betrayed, their worlds rocking.

But glimpses here and visions there call millions to believe,

There’s more to life than living here, and death will let us see.

For some it marks the end of life; for some it is the start—

For those who made Messiah the Ruler of their heart.

To pass from life to life, for these there is no greater gain—

To enter life with Jesus and leave a life of pain.

When those who ran this holy race cross worlds and start to sing,

They’ll join the cloud of witnesses shouting “Death, where is thy sting?!”

Death is not our enemy; though painful, it’s our friend.

With permission not to vanquish us but liberate us to transcend.

Let us weep when death has carried some friend or kin away

For Jesus wept in sorrow as well at Lazarus’ grave one day.

But remember death is not the end; it's the entrance to forever.

It may separate our bodies, but our hearts it cannot severe.

For if we remain in Christ, someday death’s knock will sound once more,

But this time we will be the soul he’ll bear from shore to shore.

And when his work on earth is done, he’ll unite us once again

With our family, friends, and King Who’s brought us safely near to Him.

Take comfort weary soldier; take heart young, nimble soul!

Be not weary in well-doing; keep your eyes upon the goal.

Though syrens of this world would try to tell you life is here,

Remember death is coming, but remember without fear.

Live each day as all saints should with Heaven on your mind,

For fear of death will flee when you live ready all the time.

Walk the narrow way before you paved with Blood from God’s Own Son—

The Blood that’s borne others who have lived, and died, and won.

I cannot help but smile a bit, when death takes home a friend,

A wistful, peaceful smile for I know death is not the end….