In both honor and dishonor, in life and death, all are the same for the one who seeks God with the whole heart. You will do well if you always keep the remembrance of death before you. Doesn't sound very nice, does it? We don't like to think about this matter, do we? But always remember that righteousnees delivers from spiritual death. We all will die someday; that's an absolute, and even ignored sometimes. Let us be concerned with what lies ahead on the other side of bodily death.
You know if we set our minds on the flesh only, we come to fear death; but if we set our minds on the things that are above, we know then that our death will be the threshold to eternal life. Is this so very hard to believe? Worldly grief can't deal with death, so it is a good thing to have spiritual grief instead.
When someone very close to us dies, do we grieve as one who has no hope whatsoever, or do we grieve as one who knows that God will take this soul to himself and comfort our loved one? Do not fear death or keep it in oblivion, dear reader, but instead, prepare yourself for it by repentance beforehand. Shun your bad habits as far as can be done. Make love your aim, for God alone is love. Death is surely a part of this life, and it does have meaning. Remember this too, that God did not create death, only life. But we always are granted a second chance for our souls in eternity. In fact, we can start having this eternal joy right now as we live in this body, although we are surrounded by evil. We just have to enter into a spiritual manner of living, thinking and doing the things well pleasing to a righteous God who is everywhere present and fills all things.
Consider this: "When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?'" (1 Corinthians 15: 54-55). The Christian cross is our victory. We should always keep this cross before our eyes, especially when thinking about our own death.
This remembrance of death is by far the best way we could ever keep our lives in check and bring much meaning to our everyday lives. In fact, if we keep our ultimate death before us, we will never have any wants again, because we will then consider all earthly losses as nothing compared to the surpassing worth of knowing our Maker. Bodily death is the threshold to eternal life. Do you believe this, and do you want this?
"God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything" (1 John 3: 20).
