SURPRISED BY DEATH?

Psalm 139:14-16; 144:3-4
14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. . . .3 O Lord, what is man that You care for him, the son of man that You think of him? 4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.

A New York company delivered notices to 350 employees, informing them that they were no longer entitled to benefits because of their recent demise. Surprise!

When the great American humorist Samuel Clemens (more commonly known as Mark Twain) read an obituary notice of his own death in a newspaper, he quipped, "Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Of course, we will all die someday. But most of us would be surprised if today were the day.

We have no guarantee, however, that we will live out this day. In the last couple of years, two of my friends were killed in car crashes. A co-worker's teenage daughter died in a car accident as well. And on his regular noontime run, a friend and co-worker died from a heart attack. Which of these people, who loved Jesus, knew that final morning that they would see God face-to-face before the end of the day? None of them. It was a surprise!

Psalm 139 takes us on the journey of life, beginning with our conception. How intimately God knows us! In verse 16, the psalmist David wrote, "All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be." It is a shock when someone we love dies "too soon," but God always knew the length of that life. "Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow" (Psalm 144:4).

"Too soon" is our interpretation, but if we look through God's eyes we realize that death is not the end for those who have trusted Jesus as Savior. It is simply the next stage of life. It is an interruption in life as we know it. But it is not the end. Death has not won (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

As followers of Jesus, we have hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). Our hearts break as we say goodbye, but it is not a forever goodbye. Someday, with smiles of surprise and joy, we will see each other again. --Cindy Kasper

DESTINATION POINTS

* If I knew that I would die before tomorrow morning, how would I live my life differently today?
* Will I be spending eternity in heaven with Jesus? How can I be sure?

LINKS:
What do we need to know about God?
http://www.rbc.net/salvation/

Is There Life After Death?
http://www.discoveryseries.org/q1205/

Where Do We Go From Here?
http://www.discoveryseries.org/q1202/

bottom line: Death is simply a doorway to heaven.

soul journey