01 August 2008

Death

Ecclesiastes 7:2
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.

Today while lunching with 2 colleagues we ended up talking about death and I started sharing with them my ideal dying age if I was single and if I was married, much to their horror/amazement. Despite my justification and answering all their queries of why I only wanted to die by the ages, they could not reconcile my idealogy and concluded I was extremely cukoo.

Death is inevitable, the only question is how and when. It's interesting that Ecclesiastes professes that we should keep the notion of death closely to heart. Why? I realise that if we comprehend that our lives are delicate and transient, it would make us live life fully, treasure what is important and discard the petty things.

William Wallace says "Every man dies, not every man really lives". What time of life are you living for today? Are you bogged down with issues that really don't matter in the long term? Are you living like Paul did with eternity in mind as he told the church of Galatia: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."Importantly, should you pass away anytime in the next few weeks or months would you recognise that the life you had lived, no matter how short, was well lived?

Someday we will die, it could be the near future, or many years ahead. May you be able to answer to God and man that our lives have been purposeful and of value to all.

blessings,
M.

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" (Ps. 139:16).