What if you died today?

No, I haven't taken an evangelism course from the Navigators, I simply thought it was an apropos question for today. Have you thought about dying? When I ask people this question, some quickly turn to small-talk or make a simple joke, but everyone is affected by it in a serious way.

As humans and certainly as Westerners, we do not like to think about death. Subconsciously, everyone knows it will happen, and yet most people spend their entire lives pretending it does not. Did you know that some of our most frequent customs stem from death? When sitting on a bus or in a restaurant and someone next to you sneezes, immediately someone will say "bless you". Ever wonder where that practice stems from? It actually stems from England during the black plague of the 19th century. Sneezing was seen as an imminent sign of oncoming death and to say "bless you" was to offer some spiritual guidance to a person one thought would die horribly very soon.

Death for all of us is just around the corner. For a friend of mine, it was literally, as on friday he was found dead in a room where he was painting. My friend was a God-fearing man who had a very close relationship to Jesus and so I'm not concerned for him, but he left behind a 19 year old daughter and a fiance'. What do they think about death?

As with everything, death in America is commercialized. In the middle east, some deaths result in violence especially if a person was killed in a crime or by a non-muslim. In parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the dead are left where they fell in order for animals and time to wear them away. In Japan, the lack of space has neccessitated cremation as the main form of disposal of corpses.

We have a great movie about dead people "The Corpse Bride" and my favorite film contains lots of them; (The Nightmare before Christmas). What do you thing about death?

Rather, what do you know about it? You see, some things are acceptable to think of casually. "What will I wear today?", or "Will I visit someone?" or "What's for lunch?". Some things must never be thought of this way, and death is one of them. Why?

Because unlike everything else we encounter on earth, death is permanent. Has it always been?
For all but a few people it has been and continues to be. So, unless you are one of the very few persons throughout history that has returned from the dead, it is incumbent upon you to think very seriously about yours. What will happen when it occurs? We mustn't forget those who will be left behind (death insurance is VERY cheap - it is called Term Life Insurance) and we must prepare ourselves for this inevitible occurance.

How does anyone prepare for death? Well, I for one have a great need to be certain about my death. Not that it will happen, of course but of what occurs afterward. For those who think that one can't possibly know, you are mistaken.

If I wanted to climb the K2 summit of Mount Everest, I would first start by finding someone who knows how to do such an incredible thing. Reinhard Messner would be the guy. As the greatest mountain climber that has ever lived, I would ask Mr. Messner to show me how to do it - because he has already done it. To just set out on my own is an invitation to disaster for myself and anyone else I bring along; many, many people have died on the slopes of that mountain.

But, if I have the guidance, training and encouragement of someone who has already conquered Everest, then my chances of success are very great.

If I wanted to know how to die (and I do) then likewise I would consult someone whom I knew had already "done" it and succeeded and could tell me what I need to do. Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of those folks around. In fact, when I looked around for someone who had died, came back, was confident that death could no longer harm them, and could teach me about death so that it couldn't harm me - I found only one person. His name is Jesus Christ.

Jesus not only historically died, he also historically came back and has promised to do so again. He offers anyone who will believe in Him the same immunity to death that He experienced. I wanted this immunity and He offered it to me so I accepted. Now, because of Jesus I no longer have a fear of death; in fact in many ways I look forward to it.

A long time ago, St. Paul wrote in a letter, "to live is Christ, and to die is gain". In other words, if Paul said that if he kept living he would get to live for Jesus Christ who has conquered death and so he could live fearlessly and if he happened to die, then great! He gets to see Jesus face-to-face. We should live our lives this way too - it changes your perspective and makes one excited to wake up in the morning.