We don’t look forward to experiencing death. While death is a natural occurrence when it comes to all living things, it is natural for us to not want to die. We do everything we can to prevent it from happening. We want to put it off as long as we possibly can. Which really we have no control over. Dying isn’t pleasant. And we all hope that when it is our time it won’t be too painful.
But God, through His Son Jesus Christ, has given us victory over death (1 Corinthians 15). We don’t have to fear death anymore. Because in Christ we come to understand that death is only the doorway to eternal life. It is the beginning of our eternal life with God in Heaven.
We need to look at death the way Paul did. Notice what he said in Philippians 1:20-23, “as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
Paul knew that while he lived on this earth, his purpose and mission was to serve Christ with all his heart. But Paul actually looked forward to the day he would die, the day he would get to leave this earth and finally get to be with Jesus. He even said he had a hard time deciding which he wanted more; to stay on this earth or go and be with Christ. He felt that way because he knew that getting to be with the Lord is far better than living in this fleshly, painful, sinful world.
While we live and breathe we need to love the Lord with all our heart and serve Him with every ounce of our being. But we also need to be looking forward to the day when we can finally go home and be with God for eternity in Heaven. While we live we need to be living for Jesus. When we die we will gain joy beyond measure in the presence of Jesus our Lord and Savior.
A Cord of Blue 