“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
As a child, I was terrified of death. I lost my mother when I was seven years old. So death was not just a figment of my imagination. I saw its sting and I understood how it could tear a family apart.
I still fear death, largely because I continue to view it through the eyes of that seven-year old that lost his mother. Yet, for the mature Christian, death is a part of life and should not be feared anymore than going to bed at night or getting up in the morning. In fact, the rewards that await us can only come after death. Indeed, we should look forward to it.
The problem with most Christians is they are very much like me. We haven’t arrived yet. We are by no means mature enough in our faith to understand that we are in the world and not of the world. We live in the flesh and it’s those fleshly attributes, like the desire for more money, or the fear of death, that we understand the most.
Have you ever noticed how some people, especially the elderly, seem to look forward to death? I remember when my Granny used to tell me how much she looked forward to going to heaven so she could be with her husband. You see, as we grow older and see many of our friends go on to live with the Lord, we seem to get a little homesick for something we cannot explain. That’s the spirit giving way to the flesh.
One of the revelations I had when I became a Christian was that I didn’t happen to be a body that had a spirit. I am a spirit that happens to have a body. As we grow more Christ-like, we must learn to allow that spirit, the Holy Spirit, to lead, guide, and direct our paths.
I am learning to listen and respond to God’s will for my life. But I continue to move along that continuum we call sanctification, the process or becoming more like Christ. Oh, I’m by no means where I need to be, but I know I’m headed in the right direction.
Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:26 that: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” Perhaps, I have a lot of other enemies which God wants me to first defeat, or maybe I’ll view death much like the songwriter who wrote:
Someday when I breathe my final breath, the doctor takes one look and says you’re dead.
The truth is finally going to be revealed. I’m gonna find death ain’t no big deal.
He’ll reach down and gently close my eyes. And I’ll be watching from the other side.
I’ll be laughing at how scared I thought I’d feel. I’m gonna find that death ain’t no big deal.
My soul is gonna be, just like a bird set free. I’ll sail right past the moon up to the stars.
And I know I’ll be amazed when I get to heaven’s gate, cause I knew my way home by heart.
The light will shine much brighter than the sun, and I’ll be right back where I started from.
Ain’t no way to say how good I’ll feel, oh I tell you children, death ain’t no big deal!