Are you ready to die?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Ecclesiastes 8:2-17

TO CHEW ON: "No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,

And no one has power in the day of death.

There is no release from that war." Ecclesiastes 8:8a

Our family has, within the last week, looked in death's face several times. In one, doctors predicted my brother with terminal untreatable cancer would likely die within two weeks. But instead of succumbing, he rallied and even now soldiers on past the given date.

In another, my father-in-law died unexpectedly in his sleep. For his son who visited him earlier in the day there was no prediction that his dad was living his last hours.

The lesson for me in all this: Be ready to die at any time.

The Bible gives some good advice on how to get ready, and live ready, to die:

1. We should get our affairs of life and business in order.

2. We should get our spiritual lives in order so that we are always ready to meet God.

3. While we have life, we should live it to the full, savouring the good times even as we realize that dark days are also part of life.

4. We should spend our days doing things that are significant for God.

5. We should live with the realization that someday God will inspect and judge our work.

Though the subject of death may make us squirmy, it is never too soon to be ready to die. Give your own inevitable death some thought today. You won't regret it.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me face the uncomfortable fact of my own mortality. Help me to look at all aspects of my life realistically and do what I need to do to be ready to die.


MORE: The Boomer Burden

Julie Hall (aka "The Estate Lady") has written a wonderful book to help our generation (the Baby Boomers) cope with looking after the affairs of their aging, dying parents. The advice in The Boomer Burden also applies to our own affairs. It helps readers think through the many aspects of how to prepare for death themselves so that their final wishes are honored and life is easier for those left behind to administer their estates. (Highly recommended reading! My review of it is here)

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.