"Life - Death - LIFE!"

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24 NIV

So what does one do with the knowledge that death is imminent? I'm thinking right now of several brothers and sisters for whom I and many others have been interceding in prayer for their healing, comfort and peace. Just in our spiritual family we have been praying for more than twenty people who are directly connected to that church family who are battling with cancer. A few have died, a few more are staring death in the face and some have had successful treatments that have prolonged their lives a bit longer.

Mortality is the one fact of life that is inescapable. We're all headed down the same path and whether today or tomorrow or forty years from now, reality catches up to us and we have to deal with it. I don't sit around and think about dying, well at least not very much, because I'm still healthy and able to carry on with my life. But, I am realistic enough to know that my body is deteriorating faster than I had expected. And, I think it a healthy exercise in living to give serious consideration to the end of my life as I've known and lived it.

What I DO think about a lot is what I have to look forward to. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I have been given the GREATEST BLESSING OF THE GOSPEL, God my Father. Actually, that, for me, constitutes the greatest blessing of life, PERIOD! Peter said it very clearly at 1Peter 3:18 -

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."

Because of Jesus Christ, God has reached out to me and drawn me back to himself and that just absolutely TRUMPS everything else in my experience. Of course I had to respond to God's love with faith and serious obedience, but the payoff beats everything else I might have achieved or received in this life.

When I served as an elder in a Dallas church, I went with one of our deacons to visit his neighbor who was dying with cancer. As we entered her bedroom, her mother, who had come from Tennessee to care for her was silently weeping in a nearby chair. I sat down on the bed beside the lady and took her hand and asked how I might serve her. She looked into my eyes and said, "I'm afraid of dying. Can you help me to not be so afraid?" Very gently I began to question her about her relationship with Jesus Christ and her faith in God. She affirmed both but I could tell neither was really strong or real enough to help her see past her present condition. So, I opened my Bible and read Jesus' words from John 5, then turned to Hebrews and read these words to her -

"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid." Hebrews 13:5-6

We prayed together, I prayed then she prayed then I prayed again. Three days later she died. Her mother told me she died in faith, without fear and thanked me again for encouraging them both.

When we really see the truth Jesus came to show us, death is merely one huge step in a better direction. We can take that step with courage and faith, even in the midst of horrific pain and suffering, because we now can feel the greatest blessing of the gospel, God has embraced us in love. I've been very privileged to actually witness that pivotal moment. HALLELUJAH!