Are you afraid of dying? If you are, you are not alone so don’t feel bad. I know a lot of good people who, even though they love and belong to the Lord, are afraid of dying. The apostle Paul addressed the issue of life and death in his letter to the Philippians, saying he was hard pressed to choose between two of his wishes as a Christian. On the one hand, he wanted to remain alive so that he could continue his work in spreading the gospel, but on the other hand he knew it would be far better to leave this world and be with Christ. (See Philippians 1:21-23) I believe that the moment we all set foot in Heaven, we will ask ourselves “Why couldn’t I have come here sooner?”
How many people do we know who are anxiously looking forward to dying? Generally speaking, not only do people not want to die, they live in fear of it every day and many don’t even want to talk or hear about it. A preacher once said that death is like a scarecrow. Foolish birds stay away from it, seeing it is a man that wants to harm them, but the smart ones know that the presence of that scarecrow only means there is some mighty good eating down there. He concluded, "Faith is a bird that loves to perch on scarecrows." Death is as harmless to Christians as scarecrows to the birds. It has no power over God’s children and it is no wonder then that Paul also wrote: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)
God’s word for today: (Psalms 116:15) “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”
