Death
The Word of the Lord:
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.
What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
He has made everything appropriate in its time.
He has also set eternity in their heart…
Ecclesiastes 3:1-12 (NASB)
There is a beauty to the moments of our lives, and Jean’s life was full of beauty…
But our lives are not merely disconnected moments, because “He has also set eternity in their hearts.” This is why “a time to die” is unlike any other moment: it is final, unnatural, and even tragic. We mourn death because we were designed to live forever, and we know it.
But death is not God’s fault. It began way back here:
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17 (NASB)
It wasn’t a “test” or a “trap”, but rather an opportunity to decide wether to live apart from God, or in loving relationship with Him. God says death occurs immediately when we are severed from Him. [Read more →]
